The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) announced on Feb. 25 that it held the first Korea-Qatar Smart Farm Cooperation Committee in Doha, Qatar, to promote exchanges and cooperation in the field of smart agriculture between the two countries as a follow-up to an MOU signed between Korea and Qatar in October 2023.
The Qatar-Korea Smart Farm Cooperation Committee is a working-level committee at the ministerial level. It is chaired by Lee Sang-man, an official of MAFRA and its chief representative. The two countries shared the direction of smart agriculture policies and discussed research cooperation, including joint technology demonstrations in the field of smart farming. They introduced a Korean smart farm innovation valley model and proposed making investments to build an innovation valley in Qatar.
MAFRA has been expanding policies to foster and support domestic smart agriculture, including enacting the Smart Agriculture Act in July 2023. To expand K-smart farms overseas, the ministry is creating various policies including establishing demonstration greenhouses in countries interested in importing Korean smart farms such as those in the Middle East, and expanding the number of trade centers for smart farms.
Qatar is showing much interest in strengthening food security by spreading smart agriculture under its national food security strategy. It plans to establish the next phase of its strategy in 2024. Qatar officials are planning to tour the Smart Farm Innovation Valley model and export companies in the first half of this year for closer cooperation with Korea.
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