[THE INVESTOR] The South Korean city of Yongin is pushing to bid for the headquarters of the world’s main intergovernmental body for coffee, the Yongin municipal government said on June 28.

Yongin’s plans are to host the secretariat of the International Coffee Organization in an industrial complex the city will complete by May next year.

Set up in 1963 under the UN, the London-based ICO brings together exporting and importing governments to jointly tackle the challenges facing the world coffee sector.

The members represent 98 percent of world coffee production and 83 percent of world consumption. The organization administers the International Coffee Agreement, which a total of 77 coffee producing and consuming countries have joined.

There have been reports that the ICO may transfer its headquarters to the Asian region as the lease to the London headquarters is set to expire next year. South Korea’s coffee market came to 6.2 trillion won (US$5.45 billion) in 2014, becoming the world’s sixth consumer.

In April, a South Korean bidding committee to pursue the hosting of the ICO headquarters was launched. Kim Deog-ryong, a former lawmaker was chosen to lead the bidding committee, with three former parliamentary leaders -- Kim One-ki, Park Kwan-yong and Kang Chang-hee -- and former Prime Minister Lee Soo-sung to serve as the committee’s advisers.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)