June 25, 2007

Kistock 2007: Showing the best of Korean Livestock Technology 
 

An eFeedLink Exclusive 

With more than 600 agricultural enterprises showcasing their products in more than 10,000 square metres of exhibition space, Kistock 2007 (Korea International Livestock Expo 2007), to be held from Sep 12-14, promises to be one of the largest exhibitions ever showing off the best of South Korea's livestock industry.

The exhibition is set to be held at Kotra Exhibition Centre (KOTREX) in South Korea's third largest city, Daejeon, home to the country's largest research and development institutes. Daejeon boasts more than 20 feed additive companies, six feed production companies and more than 34 meat processing plants.

Machinery installation companies already make up more than half the number of companies that will attend the event, while 25 percent are expected from the animal health and feed additive segments, with feed companies accounting for the remaining 15 percent.

Spread over three adjoining sites, the exhibition hopes to draw 50,000 visitors to the city not only through the allure of South Korean livestock and agricultural technology but also with animal auctions and novel attractions such as bull fighting.

Kistock is jointly organised by the Hanwoo Association, the Korea Dairy & Beef Farmers Association, Korea Swine Association, Korea Poultry Association and the Korea Association for Livestock Housing and Environment Machinery.

The event is organised under a rotating leadership among the organisations, with Hanwoo Association hosting the show this year.  

Hanwoo Association President Nam Ho-Kyung said that the organising committee hopes the event would not only strengthen the competitiveness of Korea's livestock industry to ready it for challenges posed by the FTA agreements with the US, but also assure the world of the high quality and safety of Korean livestock products.   The bi-yearly event, which is now in its fourth instalment, has been gaining in popularity each year, Nam said. Although the event initially offered only 600 booths, more than 700 companies have applied so far, prompting officials to expand the exhibition sites.   During the previous exhibition, 95 percent of the exhibitors were from South Korea. Nam said he hopes to see more foreign companies participating in the exhibition this year.

For information on Kistock 2007, please click here.