Arakan News Agency
The South Korean government has decided to start sending aid for the first time abroad.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said on Tuesday that it will hold a special ceremony at the Gwangyang port in South Jeolla province on Friday to provide 750 tons of Korean rice for the first time to another country in humanitarian aid through the emergency rice storage organization involving Korea, China and from ASEAN.
It is an international gathering in which 10 ASEAN countries, as well as South Korea, China and Japan, are committed to provide rice reserves through long-term sale, lending or humanitarian assistance.
In this context, 250 tons of Korean rice will be sent to Cambodia and 500 tons to Myanmar.
Korean rice is to be stored there for one year and is offered to the people of both countries for relief or poverty alleviation in the event of an emergency.
The Korean government plans to continue to participate in humanitarian aid projects for the Asian Organization in 2017 and 2018, and also plans to provide 46 billion South Korean won worth of rice starting next year after completing the next aid agreement.
The Government expects that the provision of Korean rice as humanitarian aid will contribute to enhancing international food security on the one hand and alleviating the problem of excessive domestic rice, which leads to lower rice prices internally.
