Professor Lim Young-seok of Kangwon National University Unveils 'K-Potato Platform' at Food Africa Invitation Lecture

- Exhibition by 3 Member Companies of the 'K-Gamja Industry-Academia Council' and MOU Signed with African Conglomerate
- Globalization of 'K-Gamja Industry-Academia Council' Technology Commercialization Capabilities, Expansion into Africa and Europe

[Professor Lim Young-seok of Kangwon National University presenting the 'K-Potato Platform' at Food Africa 2023. Courtesy of Kangwon National University]

Professor Lim Young-seok (Department of Life and Health Engineering, College of Biomedical Science) of the ‘K-Potato Industry-Academic Cooperation Consortium’ led by the LINC3.0 Project Group (Director Lee Kwang-ho) at Kangwon National University (President Kim Heon-young) announced on the 27th that he participated in the presentation on the ‘K-Potato Platform’ and the booth exhibition with member companies Hanul Agricultural Corporation Co., Ltd., Inno Seed System Co., Ltd., and Narae ENC Co., Ltd. at Food Africa 2023 held at the Egypt International Exhibition Center from the 12th to the 14th.

Food Africa 2023 was held simultaneously with 738 exhibition booths and various themed symposiums across a total area of 40,300㎡ (approximately 12,000 pyeong) representing 30 leading countries. It was recorded that 25,821 visitors from about 70 countries attended.

Food Africa is the largest international trade exhibition on the African continent specializing in the food and agriculture industries. Combining exhibition booths, symposiums, networking, and matchmaking in an innovative format, this exhibition serves as a unique platform to access Egypt’s mega agricultural and fishery market and Africa’s major agricultural industries. It is highly regarded as a very important exhibition for Korean companies to enter the food, beverage processing, and packaging markets in Egypt and Africa.

The three companies of the K-Potato Industry-Academic Cooperation Consortium under Kangwon National University LINC 3.0 Project Group operated a joint exhibition hall under the name ‘Korea Agro-Food Technology Consortium’ at this exhibition. According to the project group, about 3,000 visitors came to the Korean pavilion to learn about K-varieties, K-Potato, and cases of technology commercialization through industry-academic cooperation.

The K-Potato Industry-Academic Cooperation Consortium participated in Food Africa 2023 to promote global commercialization and the industrialization and dissemination of core technologies of the K-Potato platform by its participating companies that have licensed various innovative technologies developed over the past 32 years at Kangwon National University, including K-Potato varieties, potato milk (beverage), and potato cosmetics.

This event marked an official presentation for the internationalization of the K-Potato platform led by Professor Lim Young-seok, focusing on ‘technology development commercialization’ and ‘professional manpower training’ related to potatoes. Additionally, using Egypt as a foothold, it introduced the excellence of the K-Potato platform to over 70 countries as a solution to global food shortages and as a foundation for K-Potato technology and global professional training programs for incumbent workers, as well as a stepping stone for domestic companies to enter African and European markets.

In particular, Professor Lim delivered an invited lecture titled ‘K-Potato Platform: from variety, seeds, foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.’

Professor Lim widely promoted the core potato-related technologies developed over the past 32 years at Kangwon National University and the excellence of K-Potato core technologies in the African and European potato markets. He was also the only invited speaker from an Asian country at this exhibition.

[Food Africa 2023 Korea Agro-Food Technology Consortium Exhibition Hall in Cairo, Egypt. Provided by Kangwon National University]

The three companies participating in this exhibition?Hanul Agricultural Corporation Co., Ltd. (CEO Park Kyu-seop), Inno Seed System Co., Ltd. (CEO Kim Dong-jun), and Narae ENC Co., Ltd. (CEO Lee Jae-gun)?have domestic sales amounting to approximately 40 billion KRW. It is expected that this exhibition and the MOU will provide a great opportunity to enter not only the Egyptian market but also the African and European markets.

Lee Kwang-chun, Executive Director of SM Co., Ltd., who oversaw the exhibition and local company MOUs in Egypt, said, “This exhibition was a good foothold for Korean companies to enter the MENA (Middle East North Africa) market. I believe that each company participating in this exhibition centered on the K-Potato platform had the opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the Korea Agro-Food Technology Consortium in the Middle East and Africa by actively responding to the Egyptian government’s policies and the Ministry of Agriculture’s demands and providing technologies and products that meet market needs.”

Professor Lim Young-seok of Kangwon National University said, “I hope that the ‘Unification’ potato variety, developed with the philosophy of Kangwon National University as a unification-centered university and based on the future food of the Korean Peninsula, which has recently greatly contributed to the domestic potato industry, will further become a good model for global market pioneering by domestic companies and the glocal business of the K-Potato platform under Kangwon National University LINC 3.0.”

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