Gov't to spend 1 tln won to build food production complex

SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- The government said Friday it will spend a total of 1 trillion won (US$776 million) by 2015 to build a national food industry complex that can fuel growth in the agriculture industry.

The complex, to be built on 400 hectares of land in Iksan, North Jeolla Province,
will house over 100 companies and laboratories and help transform the country
into a Northeast Asian food industry hub, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries said.
Of the total cost, the central government plans to contribute 344.6 billion won,
with the rest coming from the private sector and regional administrations.
It said that if the project is successful, the complex could create 48,000 new
jobs for the region by the target year and contribute to 9.9 trillion won worth
of related production.
The designation of the city 246 km south of Seoul comes after the ministry
reviewed five provinces that wanted to build the country's first food production
complex starting from late last year.
Government policymakers, meanwhile, said the new complex will benchmark Food
Valley in the Netherlands, which reported sales of 47 billion euros ($65.8
billion) in 2006.
They stressed that a rise in competitiveness of this industry can fuel demand for
locally grown produce that can help farmers better cope with market opening and
an influx of cheap imports.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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