| Country Partnership Strategy in Agriculture and Forestry Sector with India | |||
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| Author | Heo, Jang | ||
| Views | 96498 | Publication Date | 2020.03.04 |
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Research Background India is the second-largest country in the world with its 1.3 billion population, and the size is 33 times that of Korea. Korea and India agreed with CEPA in 2010, and their relationship escalated to be ‘Special Strategic Partnership’ in 2015. The Korean government announced ‘New Southward Policy’ and promised to expand its supports to private sector activities in India. Indian rural area accommodates seventy percent of the population, and the agricultural sector fifty-two percent, implying that they are very crucial domains for policy targeting. For development cooperation with India, it is necessary to grasp and understand current situations and challenges of Indian agriculture and find out core areas of assistance based on national development strategies and policies. In particular, the linkage between economic cooperation and development cooperation with active involvement from the private sector is crucial to back up the Korean economic cooperation policy. This study has the purpose of analyzing current situations of Indian agriculture and related public strategies and, based on it, to establish mid- to long-term development cooperation strategy in the agriculture sector for the Korean government. Research Methodology Domestic and international literature, including statistical databases, are the primary source of information for the study. Visiting for interviews with experts and officials in New Delhi and Bangalore of India in May2019 also provided critical information. The Institute for Economic and Social Changes contributed to a part of this study by implementing a value chain study of rice including other policy trends of India. Findings Since 2014, the Modi government performs various economic development policies including the ‘Make in India Initiative’ for improving the income level of its people and creating jobs to absorb new job seekers, of which the number amounts to 1.3 million every month in India. India produces 116 million tons of rice from 44.5 million hectares to feed its population. To reduce food crop loss which is about ten percent of total production is as crucial as yield increase. Economic trade between Korea and India is 20.5 billion USD, which is 32% of Korea-Vietnam trade. Korean investment in India from 2000 to 2017, 2.5 billion USD, is only one-tenth of Japan’s investment. However, India is one of the strategic countries concerning the ‘New Southward Policy’ and a target country for market diversification according to the food export promotion plan of the Korean government. In the negotiation to improve CEPA, trade expansion for agricultural processed foods was one of the agenda. Also, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) has included food manufacturing as one of the prioritized cooperation areas in its so-called ‘K-package’ process. India has tried to achieve dual purposes at once through food processing: income increase and promotion of the manufacturing industry. It also aspires to build national food networks and cold-chain networks. Agricultural R&D and technology extension is policy target areas, too, in India. The mid- to a long-term strategic objective for development cooperation in the agriculture sector is set as ‘to assist in tackling policy challenges and to support economic cooperation between two countries.’ Core pillars for cooperation are: assistance in industry restructuring through agricultural processing, agricultural R&D and extension considering local situations, and reduction of food loss and support for distribution system and marketing infrastructure. Therefore, cooperation between the two countries needs to focus on agricultural product processing, agricultural R&D and extension system building, and distribution system establishment, including post-harvest improvement. Researchers: Heo Jang, Lee Yoonjung Research period: 2019. 1. ~ 2019. 12. E-mail address: heojang@krei.re.kr |
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