Singapore: South Korea and Singapore Sign Smart Farm MOU With Joint Committee and Company Partnerships
South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on November 2 that South Korea and Singapore have signed a memorandum of understanding on smart farm cooperation, establishing a joint committee and promoting cooperation among related companies and institutions. The signing took place on October 30 in Singapore, on the sidelines of the 26th ASEAN+3 Agriculture Ministers' Meeting.
Deputy Minister Kim Jong-gu said he signed the MOU with Grace Fu, Singapore's Minister for Sustainability and the Environment. The MOU includes the establishment of a joint committee for smart farming, the exchange of technology, policies and information, and the promotion of cooperation among relevant companies and institutions. The ministry plans to use the agreement to enhance agricultural exchanges between the two countries and broaden the foundation for South Korean smart farm companies to enter the Singapore market, and discussions were also held on expanding smart farm initiatives and Korean food exports to local businesses and distributors in Singapore.
In his keynote speech at the ASEAN+3 meeting, Kim emphasised strengthening regional food security networks, responding to climate change and promoting cooperation in digital and innovative agricultural technologies. He noted that South Korea has contributed 72 percent of the total 780,000 tonnes of rice stockpiled since the ASEAN+3 Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) was established in 2013, and that it will provide an additional 5,900 tonnes of rice this year. He also introduced South Korea's data-driven growth control, super intelligence (SI) pest detection and drone application technologies, as well as plans to launch agriculture-specific satellites to enhance precision farming.
During his stay, Kim visited GreenPhytos, which operates the world's tallest indoor vertical farm, to observe automated and SI-based precision agriculture technologies and eco-friendly leafy vegetable production, and met local Korean restaurants, agricultural importers, distributors and representatives of Korean companies operating in Singapore to gather feedback on expanding Korean food exports.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：室内垂直农场（资料图），ifarm.fi 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权 / Photo: Indoor vertical farm (file photo), by ifarm.fi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
