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Korea Rural Community Corp. (KRC) President Lee Byung-ho, right, visits the site of a rural community development project in Gangjin, South Jeolla Province, in this July 2023 photo. Courtesy of KRC
Dam construction, rice supply lead global initiatives
By Ko Dong-hwan
KRC President Lee Byung-ho speaks during a press conference in Sejong, Tuesday. Courtesy of KRC
Korea Rural Community Corp. (KRC) is pursuing and supporting more rural development projects in Indonesia and African nations as the developing countries seek to build new infrastructure and improve food security through the agency’s advanced planning and practices, according to its chief on Tuesday.
The KRC is a state-run project execution agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
KRC President Lee Byung-ho said that the agency has been exporting technologies for social overhead capital (SOC) construction projects to improve the quality of living in the countries while helping Korean construction firms enter their markets. He added the agency plans to launch official development assistance (ODA) projects as well.
The KRC has established itself as the largest international SOC project developer in Indonesia. It participates in SOC bids and undertakes preliminary works for future SOC and ODA projects.
The most notable project is the Karian Dam in Banten, a province only an hour away from Jakarta. The dam that Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund invested 438 billion won ($325 million) was launched in 2013 and is scheduled for completion in 2026.
The agency designed the dam and has been supervising its construction. Carrying out the project is the Korean construction firm DL E&C. The dam will supply water for households and industrial purposes in Jakarta as well as for irrigation in Banten.
“We won the Karian Dam project bid, which was tendered by the World Bank. Building a multifunctional dam to provide water for residential, industrial and agricultural uses was the largest state-funded project in Indonesia back then,” Lee said in a press conference in Sejong.
Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who will assume office on Oct. 20, has pledged to boost coastal safety and economy along the northern coasts of Jakarta and Java Island. The KRC is part of the ambitious plan.
To build a seawall on the northern coast of the Indonesian capital, the agency completed a feasibility test in 2020. Now it is working with the Korea International Cooperation Agency to further test water quality in the seawall construction site and come up with ways to finance the project.
The agency also dispatched six officials to Jakarta in July for a three-month stint to pen a “concept note” for Indonesian President Joko Widodo on how to prevent coastal erosion and flooding and sustain natural conservation and economic development in northern Java.
According to the KRC, Subianto also plans to build a large-scale food manufacturing plant in Merauke, South Papua. The agency completed the project’s feasibility testing in 2017 and aims to secure the project once bidding begins.
“The KRC is mostly known (in Korea) for managing water supply and rural regions, but we’re more than that, possessing globally recognized capabilities in civil engineering and land development,” Lee said. “And we’ve invested the most overseas efforts in Indonesia.”
The KRC also began building rice processing plants equipped with Korean agricultural techniques in Ghana last year and six other African nations, including Kenya, Cameroon and Senegal, earlier this year.
Under the agriculture ministry’s K-Ricebelt global ODA project, the plants serve as Korea’s export points for domestic agricultural machines and equipment. The agency signed additional K-Ricebelt partnerships with Madagascar, Malawi, Angola and Zimbabwe in June.
“We’re now making all kinds of possibilities in Africa as not just the rural affairs but all other sectors of Korean industry need to find breakthroughs overseas,” Lee said.
“Following the K-Ricebelt, Korea’s ODA capacity has bulked up, particularly this year. Earlier this year, we launched a dedicated support center for all ODA projects being pursued by the Korean government. In addition to exporting our domestic agricultural techniques and winning global project bids, we’ll start launching more ODA initiatives.”
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