Gyeonggi Province’s Plant Factories Set for Qatar！
(Published January 09, 2013)
 
Gyeonggi Province signed an MOU with the Qatar National Food Security Program on January 8
Export of the most advanced farming technology to the tune of 10 trillion won
 

◇ Governor of Gyeonggi Province Kim Moon-soo visited Qatar last October to discuss the fine details of cooperation concerning joint research on plant factories.
Kim Moon-soo posing for photos while shaking hands with Mr. Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiya, Chairperson of the Qatar National Food Security Program. ⓒ G-NEWS PLUS
 
The advancement of the most advanced plant factories developed by Gyeonggi Province into Qatar has been confirmed. Gyeonggi Province has secured the export of Korean farming technology to the tune of 10 trillion won.
 
On January 9 Gyeonggi Province reported that it had concluded an MOU with the Qatar National Food Security Program (QNFSP) on January 8 regarding the joint development and supply of plant factories.
 
This MOU was concluded through an exchange of letters due to a conflict involving both parties’ schedules. Governor of Gyeonggi Province Mr. Kim Moon-soo signed the agreement first in December 2012, and sent it to Qatar, and Chairperson of QNFSP Mr. Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiya signed the MOU on January 8. QNFSP is under the direct control of Qatar’s Crown Prince, and has a similar function to Korea’s Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
 
In accordance with the MOU, Gyeonggi Province will begin building the plant factories, which are worth 5-10 billion won, from March under a pilot project in Doha, Qatar.
 
Sometime in February, Gyeonggi Province and Qatar will organize a Steering Committee consisting of two people from Gyeonggi Province and two from Qatar, and decide on the details concerning the construction of the plants. Once the details of the agreement have been established, Gyeonggi Province and Qatar will sign an official MOU at the end of February.
 
Chairperson of the Gyeonggi Provincial Agricultural Research & Extension Services Mr. Lim Jae-wook said, “Gyeonggi Province, the Netherlands, and Japan are locked in a competition to advance into the Middle East Market”. He went on to explain, “Following a report published by the Korean Embassy in Qatar regarding competitors’ actions in Qatar, we had to sign an MOU prior to an MOA in February”.
 

◇ Plant factories operated by robots installed at the Gyeonggi Provincial Agricultural Research & Extension Services ⓒ G-NEWS PLUS Hur Seon-ryang

The signing of an MOU with Qatar is highly significant in that Gyeonggi Province can export its plant factories to the countries of the Middle East and Africa, which include large tracts of dry or desert land, on the basis of its experience in Qatar.
 
In fact, the MOU includes a provision stating that Gyeonggi Province’s plant factories will be exported to the entire world via the Global Dry Land Alliance (GDLA). The GDLA, a cooperation agency formed by nations facing problems innate to desert territories, was established with the aim of seeking solutions to food shortage and safety issues. In particular, the QNFSP, which signed an agreement with Gyeonggi Province, plays a major role in the GDLA.
 
It is now certain that the GDLA will be established as a UN agency in 2014. At present, 17 countries around the world, including Mexico and a number of countries in the Middle East and Africa, are members of the GDLA. In June 2012, UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon officially supported the establishment of the GDLA at the Sustainable Development Conference held in Rio de Janeiro.
 
The GDLA, as well as Qatar, are the perfect places to export plant factories. As the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are obliged to import most of their vegetables, Gyeonggi Province estimates that these countries will need some 1,000 plant factories to produce 20% of the entire vegetable consumption of these regions. Each factory requires a facility investment of 10 billion won, so the market value is worth a minimum of 10 trillion won.
 
It has been estimated that if Gyeonggi Province supplies plant factories to the GDLA in 2014, the market could be worth over 10 trillion won.
 
How was an MOU with Qatar possible?

◇ Governor of Gyeonggi Province Mr. Kim Moon-soo and representative teams in discussion with members of the QNFSP party after presenting their research on plant factories during a visit to Qatar in 2012. ⓒ G-NEWS PLUS
 
In 2010, the Gyeonggi Provincial Agricultural Research & Extension Services developed the world’s most advanced plant production system, which can plan and produce plants irrespective of the season and location, using robots. In March 2012, the agency also succeeded in developing energy-saving environmentally-friendly smart plant factories by integrating a solar light and geothermal generation system into the plants.
 
Gyeonggi Province will export these smart plant factories to Qatar. As these plants use solar light, LED artificial light, and geothermal heat simultaneously, they use little energy and can produce high-quality vegetables under any environment using an automated cultivation system.
 
The news of Gyeonggi Province’s successful development of plant factories was delivered to the Qatar Government by the Korean correspondent of Al-Jazeera, a famous broadcasting station based in the Middle East. In August 2012, the Qatar National Food Security Program (QNFSP) invited Governor of Gyeonggi Province Mr. Kim Moon-soo to Qatar to discuss concrete cooperative measures regarding joint research in the area of plant factories.
 
On October 28, Governor Kim Moon-soo visited Qatar and gave a seminar on plant factory technology to explain the research accomplishments of the Gyeonggi Provincial Agricultural Research & Extension Services in the field of plant factories.
 
At that time, Chairperson of QNFSP Mr. Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Attiya said, “Qatar imports more than 90% of its food, and only 1% of its land is arable land, so if the country uses plant factories, it will be able to save water and produce fresh vegetables”. He also added, “I strongly support joint research on advanced plant factories with Gyeonggi Province”.
 
With the visit of Governor Kim, negotiations between the two parties were successful, and they reached an agreement on joint research on plant factories in August 2012.
 
Governor Kim said, “Gyeonggi Province’s farming technology is now exported to desert areas,” adding, “Even though Korea has made efforts to export our advanced farming technology to the countries of the Middle East, this is the first time the countries of the Middle East have shown keen interest in our technology or requested a seminar on technology, while investors from the Middle East have visited Korea. We will do our best to advance successfully into the Qatari market.”

Gyeonggi Province expects to create a second boom in the Middle East by exporting plant factories to the Middle East, in the wake of the first boom created by Korean construction companies back in the 1970s-80s.
 
A representative of the Gyeonggi Provincial Agricultural Research & Extension Services said, “Even though several countries including the Netherlands, Japan, and Spain, all of which possess advanced agricultural technologies, are attempting to advance into the Middle Eastern market, so far they have not succeeded”. He also stated, “The joint research conducted by Gyeonggi Province and Qatar on plant factories will be a starting point for exporting Korea’s advanced farming facilities using Korean IT technology”.
 
ⓒ G-NEWS PLUS News | Nam Gyeong-u echo2008f@gg.go.kr
 
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