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| Posco International CEO Joo Si-bo, left, poses with Rural Development Administration Administrator Kim Kyeong-kyu during an MOU signing ceremony for support of Myanmar's farming market at POSCO Group's Seoul office, Wednesday. / Courtesy of POSCO International. |
By Kim Jae-heun
POSCO International said Wedneday it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Rural Development Administration (RDA) in an effort to improve the value chain of Myanmar's rice industry.
RDA Administrator Kim Kyeong-kyu and POSCO International CEO Joo Si-bo met at POSCO Group's office in central Seoul to participate in the signing ceremony.
Through this deal, the two entities plan to establish a public-private cooperative relationship where the RDA will share its skills in rice production technology with Myanmar farms to produce quality raw materials while POSCO International will be in charge of processing and distributing raw local rice.
They also promised to train local farmers on cultivation techniques and post-harvest management. Post-evaluation will also be given to help them improve their rice quality. The two expect this cooperation between public and private firms to set a good example for Myanmarese farmers.
After acquiring a local rice processing plant with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tons in 2017, POSCO International established a new one capable of processing 8.6 million tons annually last year. It operates a rice processing and exporting business there.
Through the recent MOU deal, the company hopes to expand sales and improve profitability in China, Africa and Europe with quality raw materials processed in Myanmar.
The RDA also owns locale-customized rice production management technology through the KOPIA project, through which it has carried out cooperation tasks for rice variety development, improvement of cultivation technology and post-harvest management since 2014.
"Our partnership will serve as a meaningful opportunity to actively practice POSCO Group's corporate citizenship management ideology and enhance the national prestige of Korea by contributing to the increase of income for Myanmar farmers and development of Myanmar's rice industry," Joo said.
