본문
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great honor to attend this ceremony to welcome all people who have come at the 4th Seoul
International Food Forum hosted by the Financial News. K-food along with the boom of the Korean
wave is taking center stage as a new growth engine which is expected to drive the Korean economy.
Since President Park Geun-hye made a four-nation trip to the Middle East and China, she is showing
her strong will to promote exports of K-food by creating new markets like Chinese and Halal food. It is
in the same vein that the theme of this year’s Seoul International Food Forum has been decided as
‘K-Food, travels around the world’ and the Chinese and Halal food is in the spotlight recently.
As the stability of K-food has been known to the public with the Korean wave’s growing popularity,
demand for K-food is noticeably higher. Since the Korean milk powder is recognized as a premium
product, its exports this year are expected to top $100 million. Also such trend contributes greatly to the
rise in the demand of Ramen(instant noodle), snacks, and Korean foods.
Thesedays, popularity of TV drama titled ‘Descendants of the Sun’ in China has led to an instant success
of ginseng stick type product (manufactured by Korea Ginseng Corporation) because the male main
character, Song Jung-gi, is believed to have taken the product. Also a certain coffee franchise has been
swamped with inquiries for business consulting right after being aired on this drama. These cases clearly
show K-food’s growthpotential in the global food market.
Chinese food market is worth an estimated one trillion dollars based on the previous year, but the Halal
food market is expected to create a huge market of nearly 2.5 trillion dollars in 2019 from 1.3 trillion dollars
based on the year 2013.
We believe that Chinese and Halal food market shall give offer new opportunities to Korean companies
which are struggling from both low domestic demand and declining exports. K-foods’globalization may be
a lifesaver for the Korean economy from a slump.
I wish this Seoul International Food Forum would contribute to the creation of new business opportunities
for domestic food businesses with K-food globalization.
Thank you very much.
Gweon, Seong Cheol
President& CEO
TheFinancial News