Government to Support 2,000 Tons Through 'ASEAN+3 Emergency Rice Reserve Program'... Doubling the Supply

by Ju Sangdon

Published 11 Sep.2023 11:00(KST)

Additional 2,500 Tons of Rice Support for Myanmar Affected by Typhoon

The government will double the amount of rice aid this year. It also decided to provide an additional 2,500 tons to Myanmar, which suffered typhoon damage.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 11th that it plans to support 2,000 tons of rice to three countries (Philippines 750 tons, Myanmar 750 tons, Laos 500 tons) through this year's 'ASEAN+3 Emergency Rice Reserve System (AFTER)'.

AFTER is a public stockpiling system in which the 10 ASEAN countries and the three countries of Korea, China, and Japan agree in advance to stockpile rice reserves to prepare for emergencies such as food shortages and disasters, and provide sales, long-term loans, or free support in emergencies.

This is part of the 'Global Food Security Enhancement Plan' announced at the G7 Summit in May and the ASEAN+Korea, Japan, China Summit on the 6th, doubling the annual contribution amount from 1,000 tons to 2,000 tons starting this year.

Also, following Myanmar's request for 2,500 tons of emergency food aid through AFTER due to typhoon damage in May, Korea decided to support the entire requested amount among member countries. This amount can supply approximately 1.2 million people for about 4.2 days.

Korea has been the largest donor country, supporting a total of 19,000 tons of rice to member countries since starting 750 tons of pre-stock support in 2017. It has contributed 60% of the total AFTER volume (32,000 tons).

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Park Su-jin, Director of the Food Policy Office at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "Through AFTER, which has been established as a joint response model to the food crisis, we will fulfill our role as a member country and proactively promote regional food security cooperation with ASEAN countries."