Gyeongbuk Forest Product Distribution Center Established... Sobaeksan Andamiro Center Selected in National Forestry Cooperative Project Competition

Imsanup 6th Industry Business Model Northern Region Hub

This Year Alone, National Funding of 6.6 Billion KRW and Total Project Cost of 15 Billion KRW

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Gyeongbuk Province is starting the construction of the ‘Forest Products Distribution Center,’ a forest-specialized project.

On the 23rd, Gyeongbuk Province announced that it was finally selected in the 2023 Forest Cooperative Specialized Project contest hosted by the Korea Forest Service and is promoting the construction of the ‘Sobaeksan Andamiro Forest Products Distribution Center’ with a total project cost of 4 billion KRW, including 1.2 billion KRW in national funding. Andamiro is a pure Korean word meaning ‘overflowing in a bowl.’

The Forest Cooperative Specialized Project supports regional forest cooperatives to create forest business models utilizing excellent local forest resources. This year, two cooperatives nationwide, including Yeongju Forest Cooperative, were selected as final project targets.

Yeongju Forest Cooperative plans to introduce a one-step system for production, collection, and distribution using clean forest products such as wild ginseng, wild vegetables, and matsutake mushrooms from Sobaeksan, and aims to enhance competitiveness in price and quality through differentiated branding.

They intend to link with the wild ginseng cluster complex being developed in Yeongju City, contribute to increasing income for forest owners and foresters through fostering and supporting farming groups, and develop various food products using excellent ingredients, thereby creating a business model for the sixth industrialization of forestry.

Additionally, on the site of the distribution center, they plan to secure healing, experience, and cultural spaces such as cafes, gardens, and tree exhibition and sales areas by maximizing the use of the urban location, providing various conveniences to local residents.

The Forest Cooperative was founded in 1962 and has 700,000 members and associate members across 142 regional cooperatives nationwide.

It is a leading institution in the forestry sector that cultivates devastated forests into green areas, responds to national disasters such as large forest fires and landslides, and promotes the activation of private forest management.

With the selection in this contest, Gyeongbuk Province has secured a total project cost of 15 billion KRW in 10 forest income-related contest items this year alone, aiming to innovate local forest industries in various fields such as forest product production, processing, and distribution logistics.

Choi Young-sook, Director of the Environment and Forest Resources Bureau of Gyeongbuk Province, said, “We are doing our best to transform the forests, which cover more than 70% of Gyeongbuk’s area, into profitable forests,” and added, “We will promote the activation of the sixth industrialization of forestry through the Sobaeksan Andamiro Distribution Center.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.