▲ World Ginseng Expo

With a history 1500 years in the making and favorable environmental conditions, Geumsan county and Chungcheongnam-do provincial government give unstinting supports in many aspects to build a solid reputation with ginseng in the health foods industry and manage its global branding image.

Geumsan Ginseng has been praised and loved by ginseng specialists and major consumers from China, USA, East Asia, Europe and the ends of the Earth. According to the data reported in July of 2014, the amount of ginseng exports from Chungcheongnam-do was US$112 million in 2013 which resulted a 7.7% increase from the previous year’s figures of US$104 million.

These numbers indicate that Geumsan is currently trading 64% of the total national exports. It established a solid foothold in domestic markets as a hub of ginseng. It took seven years for Geumsan to expand the market shares to almost double when considering that it was only 31% in 2006.

However, many conditions are not favorable nowadays as the gross area for ginseng farming is reducing in size. Only within Chungcheongnam-do has there been a 40% field decrease since 2009. Because of the exhaustion of soil fertility, it is difficult to secure new fields with proper soil. To make matters worse, the temperature continues to rise in the area, causing the decrease of harvest.

Chungcheongnam-do and Geumsan County are working hard to support ginseng-related businesses. Chungcheongnam-do implements the Geumsan Ginseng Herb Quality Branding supporting project, the modernization project of ginseng farming and production facility, the finding new farmlands project, R&D for the improvement of the species of ginseng, etc.

Chungcheongnam-do and Geumsan County are also expanding supporting efforts at the production stage by bringing earth from other places to improve soil and by supplying new and improved ginseng species to farmers.

The globalization project is also actively in progress. To strengthen the status of the ginseng suzerain, World Ginseng Expo is set to take place at Geumsan in 2017.

An exclusive organization committee will be organized separately. Moreover, 15 billion won will be invested in the expo which will last for 30 days between September and October of 2017.

Chungcheongnam-do and Geumsan County are cooperating closely to draw a blueprint for the success of the international event.