BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – A four-person delegation from Liberia has announced signing a memorandum of understanding with three companies in South Korea to extend their operations in Liberia.

The delegation was headed by Grand Bassa’s county superintendent Janjay Baikpeh and included Buchanan’s Mayor Moses Hynes, Wayzohn’s Mayor Edwin Weljay, and the mayor of Bopolu, Zinnah Norma.

Baikpeh and Norma signed on behalf of their respective counties while Jung Jae-Bong and Michael Bae signed for their respective companies.

Baikpeh held a press conference last Tuesday in Buchanan to announce the deal, noting that the agreement was only intended to foster further conversations allow the companies to establish their operations in Liberia.

“Make no mistake, [the] memorandum of understanding is not a concession or contract that is binding – it is working tools put together to have an interaction or a conversation,” Baikpeh added.

He named the South Korean companies as EDTEK, SVTECH, and G-SENSE.  According to him, EDTEK is an energy development company operating in South Korea. He also explained that SVTECH is an educational content and computers supply company while G-SENSE specializes in stevia production. Stevia is a sugar substitute that is extracted from the leaves of a plant native to Brazil and Paraguay.

“For the MOU signed with G-SENSE group of companies, Liberia will be the only country in Africa that will be doing the agricultural program on the plant called stevia,” he said. “What the people want to do is to avoid using sugar cane to produce sugar, so stevia is the plant that can be used to substitute that, so the factory will be built here in Grand Bassa.”

Baikpeh said if the companies follow through and establish their operations in Liberia, it would provide job opportunities for thousands of Liberians across the country.

He told journalists that officials of the South Korean companies are expected to visit Liberia sometimes in April this year to conduct assessments on the sites.

Featured photo courtesy of Superintendent Janjay Baikpeh.