Hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and co-hosted by the Korea Agricultural Cooperative Federation and Maekyung
Holded at the Halla Hall of the Seoul Dragon City Hotel
Attendance of 300 people including 50 agricultural food startups
Forum Line Announcement of the Successful Overseas Business of Samyang Foods
Consulting on Consultation on Overseas Expansion, Export, and Investment
“We will transform agricultural productivity by spreading physical artificial intelligence (AI) and smart agriculture to the field and building a platform to support the AI transition across agriculture.”
Vice Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Kim Jong-gu said at the “2026 Agri-Food Finance and Investment Roadshow” held at the Dragon City Hotel in Seoul on the 9th, “We will actively support the growth of the agricultural industry and related companies by supporting R&D and commercialization in promising fields such as the establishment of autonomous agricultural work systems and the spread of AI-based digital distribution systems.”
Organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and co-organized by the Korea Institute of Agricultural Policy Insurance and the Mail Business, the event was designed to support overseas exports and advancements while introducing new K-food trends to agri-food startups. The event was held in the form of a forum in the morning under the theme of “The Possibility of Agricultural Food, Connecting to the World Market and Investment,” and in the afternoon, it will be held in the form of a consultation meeting.
The event was attended by more than 300 people, including Vice Minister Kim, head of the Agricultural Policy Insurance Financial Group in Seohae-dong, Rep. Lee Jae-kwan of the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Committee, Rep. Kang Seung-kyu, president of NH Nonghyup Bank, Kang Tae-young, and vice president of KOTRA Kim Myung-hee. Fifty promising start-ups in the agri-food sector participated in the forum alone.
At the forum, Jang Seok-hoon, CEO of Samyang Round Square, delivered a keynote speech on the theme of “Global Agri-Food Trends and the Direction of Overseas Expansion of Domestic Companies.” Ham Sun-ok, chairman of the K-Food Industry Innovation Association (professor at Yonsei University), then gave a special lecture on “K-Food Industry: Changes in Global Markets and Opportunities for Agri-Food Startups.”
In the afternoon, consulting sessions on overseas expansion, overseas sales, exports and investment will be held to provide consulting support for startups. For overseas expansion consultations, overseas export managers from large companies such as CJ Cheil Jedang, Nongshim, Daesang, Orion, Pulmuone, and Lotte Chilsung will meet startups directly. Overseas sales consultations will be conducted by Alibaba, Coupang (Taiwan), GS Retail and NH Nonghyup Trading, while export consultations will include the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, Small and Medium Venture Business Promotion Corporation, KOTRA, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation, Korea International Trade Association, and Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT). Investment consultations for startups mainly involve foreign venture capital such as Parksha Capital, Simsan Ventures, BRV Korea, Yozma Korea, Vinpearl, and Start 2 Group.
