▶KT&G Welfare Foundation (chairperson of the board: Young-Kyoon Kwak) held a building completion ceremony for the ‘Forestry and Agriculture Education Center’ in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on July 20. D. Oyunkhorol, the Minister of Environment and Tourism (third from right), and Song Oh, the Korean Ambassador in Mongolia (first from right) attended the ceremony.

KT&G Welfare Foundation (chairperson of the board: Young-Kyoon Kwak) held a building completion ceremony for the ‘Forestry and Agriculture Education Center’ in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on July 20. D. Oyunkhorol, the Minister of Environment and Tourism, and Song Oh, the Korean Ambassador in Mongolia attended the ceremony. In June 2016, KT&G Welfare Foundation signed an MOU with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolian for the establishment of forestry and agriculture education center. The ceremony celebrated the outcome of the MOU signed.

The Forestry and Agriculture Education Center in Mongolia was built to to prevent the desertification in Mongolia and to help environmental refugee with their economic independence. The Education Center will provide practical education activities from farming experience faciality, tree nursery, and fruit tree cultivation garden. Forestry and agriculture professionals from the Education Center are to be dispatched to all over the Mongolia to prevent desertification and restoration of ecological system by creating forest.

In addition, the KT&G volunteer group made of 40 college students visiting Mongolia until July 27 will plant trees and provide education activities. They will plant a seedling and clean up the environment, and provide personal hygiene training and Korean culture sharing session for elementary school students in Mongolia.

A related person of KT&G Welfare Foundation said, 'the establishment of the Education Center is a global social responsibility activity in accord with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in terms of agriculture improvement, quality education, job creation and environment protection. The activity will prevent the desertification of Mongolia and improve the air quality of Korea by reducing yellow dust which may fly to Korea.'

KT&G Welfare Foundation was built in 2003 to improve the quality of professional social welfare activity to provide diversified social responsibility activities all over the world as well as economically challenged people in Korea.  The company dispatched volunteer groups over 30 times to Cambodia which suffered from civil wars and rebuilt 40 houses of low income households in Indonesia. In Myanmar, medical service team made of renowned Korean medical doctors has provided free medical service to improve the quality of medical service.

▶‘Forestry and Agriculture Education Center’ completion ceremony held by KT&G Welfare Foundation (picture)

▶College student volunteer is planting a seedling at KT&G Welfare Foundation Forestry and Agriculture Education Center in Mongolia.