Similar to Qatar, South Korea also has small arable land with 70% mostly covered by mountains, the envoy noted.
“So we developed various technologies to enhance productivity,” Park said, stressing that Qatar can also bank on such technology to attain food security.
He pointed out that South Korea has a long history of efforts to resolve food shortage aimed at supporting its large population.
Previously, South Korea’s Gyeonggi province explored a joint project with Qatar on vertical farming. However, Park disclosed that it was reportedly hindered by financial challenges.
The embassy hopes the project will push through in the near future using a public-private-partnership scheme.
According to the envoy, South Korea also has a good potential of developing vertical or indoor farming using light emitting diode and ICT technologies, in addition to its accumulated agricultural knowledge and experience.
“The embassy wishes to support this kind of co-operation, which would be beneficial to Qatar, which has extreme weather conditions during summer, as well as other countries adversely affected by global warming,” Park said.
“With this technology, we can avoid those kinds of difficulties.”
If successful, vertical farming in Qatar can become a model that could be implemented and extended to other countries in the region, he said.
A Qatari entrepreneur who visited South Korea in 2012 saw that vertical farming was highly suitable for Qatar. He believes the technology will significantly boost agricultural production even during the summer season.
South Korea’s cutting-edge technology will also help reduce Qatar’s reliance on agricultural exports by producing fresh vegetables and fruits.
Part of the previous agreement between Gyeonggi province and a local Qatari company includes research collaboration and knowledge transfer, providing a series of trainings to Qataris on how to operate plant factories.
It is learnt that vertical or indoor farming also adheres to Qatar’s efforts to properly and efficiently use its energy and water resources. It uses less electricity and water, as well as space and manpower, to grow a wide range of crops.
Park stressed that South Korea will continuously exchange experiences with Qataris on various fronts. A fourth high-level strategic co-operation committee meeting between the two countries will take place in Seoul later this year.
Discussions will focus on various fields of co-operation such as trade and investment, industry, energy, infrastructure and construction, healthcare, science and technology, ICT, defence and security, education and youth exchange.