Nonghyup Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Co-op plans to strengthen its roles as a producer of indigenous farm products and promoter of healthy eating

"Over 50 Years All Together and For the Future" was the slogan that Nonghyup (National Agricultural Cooperative Federation) put forward in celebrating its half century of operation, promising a new future under a new vision.
The farmers' organization also held the "All Farmers, One-Mind" rally on Sept. 6 to mark the 50th anniversary at Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul with some 40,000 farmers' representatives from farm towns all over the country in attendance. President Lee Myung-bak was also in attendance, welcomed by Nonghyup Chairman Choi Won-byung, to celebrate what the agricultural organization accomplished and what they can do in the next century to improve the agricultural industry across the country.
The significance of the anniversary celebration was to call for agricultural communities to get together to open a new future filled with hope in cooperation with customers, producers, farm towns and Nonghyup, promoting a healthy diet for people through eating full meals made with wholesome, indigenous farm produce instead of fast food. In this connection, Nonghyup will take up as its purview everything from the production and purchasing of farm produce to cooking and eateries to improve the eating habits of the Korean people.
During the Sept. 6 rally, 17 people who contributed to the development of Nonghyup and its operations received government citations for their meritorious work.
Nonghyup's Banking Sector did exceedingly well in the first half of this year with its profits soaring to 349.9 billion won, up 198.5 billion won more than in the same period last year. ROA rose to 0.38 percent, compared to 0.16 in the same period last year, while ROE climbed to 4.86 percent in the first half, compared to 2.34 percent in the same period last year. The expanded profit in H1 is owed to large NIM and reductions in loss provisions, with not many of its corporate borrowers going under.
Although Nonghyup is involved worldwide, it enjoys particularly strong relationships with organizations in Japan, China and other Asian countries. Nonghyup is a member of such prominent organizations as the ICA, AFMA, IRU and EAOC, and has participated in the meetings and cooperative actions of numerous bodies at both global and regional levels such as the OECD, WTO, APEC, UN FAO, IFAD AARRO, FFTC and APO.
Nonghyup plans to dominate the production of farm products through its organizational setup and boost its power to set prices of farm produce at the market through tie-ups with sales outlets of other commodities. The move is expected to expand the distribution infrastructure and wholesale network of farm and livestock products dominated by Nonghyup since the work will include building regional logistics networks and new sales stands and substantially expand the farm and livestock product sales business.
The reform of its financial business sector is aimed a making financial support available to all farming households to stabilize their operations. New farm funding support will be expanded to 6.5 trillion won and 62.2 billion won in credit, which will be extended on a sustainable basis to those isolated from financial loans and credits in order to invigorate their economies.
Nonghyup Bank will dish out special loans amounting to 1.2 trillion won under the name "Hatbit" (sunbeam) Loans to invigorate the lives of poor families this year. The financial reform is also aimed at coping with changes in the financial environment for Nonghyup member farms and livestock cooperatives around the country by expanding the base for sustainable growth of those members.
Nonghyup also plans to expand its credit guarantees for its members to boost the productivity of farms and fishery businesses to 4.6 trillion won. It will also cut fees for credit guarantees from a range of 0.5 percent to 1.1 percent to a range of 0.3 percent to 0.9 percent.
The financial sector will also try to expand its profits by managing its assets and debt portfolio to maximize profits. It will diversify the means for securing funds with detailed plans for quantity and interest rates. The banking sector will also improve its evaluation system to expand its financial profit by restructuring its branches. nw

Chairman Choi Won-byung of Nonghyup.

A view of Nonghyup's 50th anniversary ceremony held on Sept. 6 at Sangam-dong World-cup Stadium in Seoul.

Photo on Courtesy of Nonghyup