A customer shops at a major discount chain store in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea began exporting its premium “hanwoo” beef to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, making the Middle Eastern country the fifth official overseas destination for the prized meat, the agriculture ministry said.
The government shipped about 1.5 tons of hanwoo worth 250 million won (US$175,426) to the UAE via Incheon International Airport earlier in the day, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The UAE became South Korea’s fifth export market for hanwoo, following Hong Kong, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos.
The UAE, which relies on imports for more than 90 percent of its beef consumption, is expected to emerge as a key market for Korean beef exports, given the growing local demand for premium meat.
The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. (aT) said the government “will use the successful halal-certified hanwoo export to the UAE as a stepping stone to enter the Singaporean market and expand into larger halal markets, such as Indonesia.”
(Yonhap)
