KOREA NATIONAL FOOD CLUSTER No.5 · August / September · 2013 SUCCESSFUL Investment Missions COVER STORY Tackling Food Waste INSPIRING LEADER Mr. Lim Jeung-bin, Director-General of Food Industry Policy Bureau http:// eng.foodpolis.kr FPM_vo5_Insert_Final_0923-표지분리.indd 2 13. 10. 14. 오후 3:54 FOODPOLIS No.5 2013 FOODPOLIS CONTENTS 02 GREETINGS Greeting Message from Minister 03 News Track Latest News and Statistics 11 Policy Talk 17 37 49 Creative Agriculture 17 Talking Heads Mr. Lim Jeung-bin, Director General at MAFRA 19 Cover Story Tackling Food Waste 31 Regulatory Watch 43 Measures to Build a Creative Economy 37 International Biz FOODPOLIS Forno d'Asolo Publisher 41 Corporate Profile FOODPOLIS (KOREA NATIONAL FOOD CLUSTER) TaeyangB/D 4F 40-9, Jungang-dong, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea 427-806 TTC Japan Tel. +82-1688-8782 / http://eng.foodpolis.kr 43 Project Monitor Investment activities in Japan and U.S.A 49 Hansik Design & Printing Agency Popular Korean Chuseok Food A1 LAB Tel. +82 2 336 4089 | www.all-1.com Director: Kim Boil 53 Spotlight Chief Editor: Ram Garikipati Introduction of Jeonju Manager: Yoo Han-seok Sr. Designer: Jang Day-one Photographer: Lee Byoung-sam Copyright © 2013 FOODPOLIS 1 FPM_vo5_Insert_Final_0923-표지분리.indd 3 13. 10. 14. 오후 3:54 EDITORIAL DEAR FRIENDS, I am pleased to inform you that we recently announced the 'Agriculture and Food Technology Transfer and Commercialization Promotion Plans' to support the attainment of ‘creative agriculture’. The plans aim to achieve a national and private patent technology transfer rate of 36 percent; a transferred patents commercialization success rate of 34 percent and the creation of 4,000 new jobs by 2017. To achieve this, my ministry will promote technology financing through an agriculture and food ‘fund of funds’ and establish a basis for technology trading and intellectual property rights-use. You can read all about our innovative plans in this issue of the magazine. My commitment to develop the agricultural sector is very strong, and many other important policy steps will be taken in the future. The Cover Story focuses on food waste, a very important topic that has been troubling both developed and developing countries. Faced with the challenges of demographic developments, climate change and the need to use resources efficiently, combating food losses and food waste will go a long way in tackling food security. In developing and low-income countries, the bulk of losses occur in the production and post harvest stage owing to financial resources insufficient to improve existing infrastructure. In industrialized countries like Korea, however, the problem is more behavioral in nature. The global food industry is cooperating with governments to address this issue and we will not spare any efforts to decrease domestic food waste. This month we celebrated Chuseok, the annual thanksgiving festival. It is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food. You get a taste of our delicious traditional food in the Hansik section. The topics that we have covered include the investment missions by FOODPOLIS team to Japan and USA, regulatory update and interviews. I am sure you will find the information very useful. LEE Dong Phil Minister of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs 2 FPM_vo5_Insert_Final_0923.indd 2 13. 9. 26. 오후 1:40 FOODPOLIS No.5 2013 sion of the complex by withdrawing its workers or blocking Economy Grows 1.1% in Q2 traffic. The two Koreas agreed to guarantee the normal opera- tion of the factory complex, protect the security of its work- ers and investment capital, attract overseas firms to invest in the complex, make efforts to normalize operation by repair- ing its facilities, and form a joint committee to administer the complex. They also agreed to host joint investment pres- entations overseas to win international recognition of the complex. The latest agreement paved the ground for the two Ko- reas to prevent the future suspension of the factory site and offered a chance to transform the site into an internation- al industrial complex. The South Korean government said it would make efforts to make the KIC a more globally compet- itive endeavor, which follows common sense and abides by international rules. Korea’s real gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 1.1 percent in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the previ- ous quarter, according to advanced estimates released by the Expanded Areas for Bank of Korea (BOK). It was the fastest pace since the first quarter of 2011, when the economy grew 1.3 percent. Com- Investment-based Immigration pared to the same period of the previous year, Korea’s GDP grew by 2.3 percent in the second quarter of 2013. Korea will expand areas eligible for investment-based immi- Agriculture, forestry & fisheries grew 2.0 percent quar- gration into districts within free economic zones in Busan, ter-on-quarter, led by agriculture and fisheries. Manufactur- Incheon and Donghae in a bid to attract quality manpower ing grew by 0.8 percent, as the production of smartphones, and funds from overseas. semiconductors and petrochemicals increased. Construction Among areas designated as free economic zones, Young- expanded by 1.5 percent, led by housing construction, while jong District of Incheon has remained the only area eligible services grew by 0.9 percent, due to rising output in whole- for investment-based immigration. sale & retail, hotels & restaurants, financial & insurance ser- The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Min- vices and healthcare & social services. istry of Justice recently agreed to apply the system to more Private consumption and construction investment in- areas around free economic zones where demand for invest- creased by 0.6 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. Howev- ment exists. Under a plan, the trade ministry will identify in- er, facility investment declined by 0.7 percent, due to a fall vestment demand in the nation’s eight free economic zones in transportation equipment investment. Exports rose by (101 business districts in total) and ask the justice ministry to 1.5 percent, led by audio-visual communications equipment, designate eligible areas. Initial candidate areas include Song- while imports increased by 1.0 percent, led by semiconduc- do District of Incheon Free Economic Zone, Myungji District tors and electronic components. in Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone and Mangsang Distrcit in East Coast Free Economic Zone. Koreas Agree to Normalize Kaesong Industrial Complex South and North Korea agreed to normalize the Kaesong In- dustrial Complex (KIC) after seven rounds of working-level negotiations on the resumption of joint operations on Au- gust 14. The agreement includes five clauses under which the two sides guarantee normal operation of the joint industrial complex under any circumstances and prevent future suspen- 3 FPM_vo5_Insert_Final_0923.indd 3 13. 9. 26. 오후 1:40 NEWS TRACK Office and said “entrepreneurs committed to creating jobs Gov’t to Streamline Certifications and revitalizing economy are the government’s core partners. Those who make investment deserve special treatment.” for SMBs The plan calls for deregulations on regions which could undergo urban development, stipulating any facility will be The Korean government has started streamlining overlapping allowed to be constructed in the planning and management certifications that distress small and medium-sized businesses zone (11 percent of the land nationwide) except for forbid- (SMBs). The move came after overlapping certifications were den facilities. found to have added to the burden on companies, and in The government plans to modify land-planning law by some cases, hindered companies from landing export deals. selecting facilities that are banned from establishments in The Office for Government Policy Coordination held a such regions by next February. This could trigger a rash of meeting with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Plan- construction of restaurants and marts in such regions, having ning, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Ministry of a positive spillover effect onto provincial land prices. Environment and finalized a plan to eliminate repetition of the national certification system to alleviate the burden on corporations. As a result, overlapping certifications for 583 products, including TV, refrigerator, LED lamp, and hot red pepper paste, will be immediately abolished. The certification stand- ards for 482 products such as TV, refrigerator and LED lamp will be integrated, while certification results for 101 products including red pepper paste and sesame oil. The government forecasts companies will be able to cut certification costs by as much as 43 percent on average from 2.1 million won ($1,892) to 1.2 million won, and shorten the New Measures Against Home average time it takes to obtain certifications by 34 percent on average from 70 days to 46 days. In addition, an integrated Rental Woes model will be put in place to prevent the formation of over- lapping certifications in advance. Korea will embark on a new mortgage program for the first- time home buyers from October, which allows them to share profit or loss from home price fluctuations with the govern- ment (public housing fund). The new program extends loans of up to 200 million won ($179,099) at an annual 1.5 percent rate to encourage people to switch from “jeonse” or month- ly rental to purchasing their own home. The mortgage loan program has two types of loans, prof- it-sharing loan and profit/loss-sharing loan. Under the prof- it-sharing type, first-time home buyers are eligible to borrow up to 70 percent of their home value at an annual 1.5 per- cent rate.