K-Market turns Korean ODA rice project into commercial venture in Vietnam

K-Market, the largest Korean-run supermarket chain company in Vietnam, signed a partnership with a local provincial government to purchase and distribute locally grown rice developed through official development assistance (ODA) from the Korean government. According to the company, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Quang Tri provincial government on Thursday, agreeing that the retailer will purchase and distribute the rice grown by local farmers in the province as its private brand product. Under the deal, the company will sell the rice, a Japonica rice variety, for three years through its 150 directly managed stores across Vietnam. This marks a model case of a Korean agricultural ODA project evolving from providing aid and local agricultural infrastructure to creating a bridge toward commercialization. The Japonica rice variety was first introduced to the farmers in Quang Tri province through an ODA effort by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Funded by the Korean government, the project was launched to help dev