The Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority is accelerating efforts to build a new global business model that combines the coffee industry with logistics, centered on Busan New Port. After inviting diplomatic delegations from major coffee-producing countries to showcase its port and logistics infrastructure, the authority is now establishing a training system for talent specializing in both coffee and logistics, formally launching its strategy to develop an "Asian coffee logistics hub."
The Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority said Tuesday that it had carried out a series of initiatives over two days starting January 15 to expand its global network and cultivate specialized personnel linked to the coffee industry.
On January 16, the authority hosted a familiarization tour of the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone for 15 ambassadors and diplomatic envoys to Korea from nine countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Peru, China and Uganda. The event was a follow-up to a coffee industry development agreement signed in March between Busan's Yeongdo District and LGC.
Participants toured the authority's promotional center, Dongbang Logistics Center and Dongwon Global Terminal, directly observing the logistics infrastructure centered on Busan New Port. They reportedly showed strong interest in the strategy to build a "coffee value chain," covering everything from imports of green coffee beans to storage, processing, roasting and re-export, based on the free trade zone and port hinterland.
The authority believes that utilizing Busan New Port and the free trade zone could enable the construction of Northeast Asia's largest coffee logistics and business hub. The strategy is to expand cooperation networks with global coffee-producing countries and concentrate functions including bean imports, processing, logistics and distribution.
The authority has also begun cultivating specialized personnel. A day earlier, on January 15, it signed an agreement with the Korea Coffee Association at the National Maritime Museum in Yeongdo District, Busan, launching a system to train talent in the convergence of coffee and logistics. As concerns have recently grown over a shortage of specialists who understand both the coffee and logistics industries, the two sides agreed to jointly operate a practical training program reflecting on-site industry demand.
Under the agreement, the two sides will run a short-term pilot training program on coffee-logistics convergence and pursue the establishment of a new certification course, while operating a hands-on curriculum that includes site visits and expert lectures. In particular, coffee-logistics convergence training programs for local university students will be held at Blue Port in Yeongdo, Busan, and at Inje University in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, in June and July.
The authority's strategy is to develop the coffee industry not merely as a consumer industry, but as a convergence industry combining logistics, processing, tourism and culture. The judgment is that, based on world-class port infrastructure including Busan New Port, the free trade zone and hinterland logistics complexes, the region has the potential to emerge as a key hub in the global coffee supply chain.
"This served as an opportunity to directly introduce the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone's excellent investment environment and port and logistics competitiveness to countries around the world," said Park Sung-ho, commissioner of the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority. "We will create new business opportunities by cultivating convergence specialists who break down boundaries between industries and by expanding global industrial exchanges."
