Diversifying Overseas Forest Investment into Central and South America

Central and South America is geographically far from the Republic of Korea, but growth rates of planted trees such as Eucalyptus and Pinus radiata are significantly high and production costs are considerably low in terms of labor and land lease fee. For these reasons, this region is being watched by potential forest investors with keen interest. In diversifying overseas forest investment and making efficient plantations, the Korea Forest Service (KFS) sees great potentials of this region.

With this respect, KFS Minister Dr. SHIN Won Sop held the Seminar on Overseas Forest Investment in Central and South America on March 18 at the Forest Vision Center, Seoul which was participated by Korean investors, Korean forest companies and experts from academia and other related institutions.

At the Seminar, forest investment information was introduced including foreign plantation cases, investment environment, and forest conditions in Central and South America including Paraguay, Brazil and Ecuador. Some Korean companies which are doing their forest businesses in those countries shared their experiences.

Most Korean forest companies have advanced into Southeast Asia such as Indonesia and Cambodia due to their favorable geological locations. There are some notable cases of overseas plantations and timber processing businesses by Korean companies in Paraguay and Chile but Korean investment was not promoted nor extended enough due to lack of forest investment information.

In hopes of providing more stable conditions of overseas investment to Korean forest companies,? Dr. SHIN Won Sop ensured that KFS makes its continued endeavors to improve the bilateral cooperation with concerned countries and also enhance the international cooperation on forest conservation.

Speaking of the bilateral cooperation, KFS has established forest partnerships with 29 countries including 6 countries in South America and is going to sign the MOU on forest cooperation with Dominican Republic, one more Central and South American country, this year.