Vietnam and South Korea advance sustainable agricultural development cooperation

The working delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, led by Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri, met with Vice President Kim Dong Ho of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Seoul. 

The deputy minister recalled several accomplishments in Vietnam and South Korea's cooperation. With more than 9,000 investment initiatives and USD 72 billion in cumulative investment, the latter has become the largest investor in Vietnam. Regarding commerce, South Korea is Vietnam's third greatest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching USD 96.1 billion in 2022. 

Over the past year, the two nations have actively promoted bilateral partnerships. Vietnam and South Korea have the potential and benefits to advance agricultural development. South Korea's modern agriculture produces various agricultural products, particularly vegetables. 

Between 2019 and 2022, South Korea collaborated with and supported Vietnam in implementing 30 programs and projects in agriculture and rural development totaling over USD 136 million, including 21 technical assistance programs and projects using non-refundable aid worth nearly USD 50 million; and 1 project utilizing concessional loans worth nearly USD 86 million.

MARD has effectively directed and implemented these projects. For finished programs and projects, the Ministry is focused on guiding the inheritance of results and replicating the model; the benefits of these projects have clearly and steadily increased farmers' income and livelihoods.

Vietnam desires to collaborate with South Korea in the near future due to its many advantages in adopting high-tech in production and agricultural processing. Vietnam is one of the world's primary exporters of agricultural goods, including rice, vegetables, aquaculture, and industrial trees, among others. 

The Vietnamese side also received a substantial amount of assistance and cooperation from international allies, including the effective assistance and support of the Korean Government through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), particularly in programs and projects to enhance capacity, transfer technology, invest, and promote trade in agricultural, forestry, and fishery products. In 2022, the import-export volume between the two countries reached USD 2.93 billion, with exports reaching USD 2.3 billion and imports reaching USD 0.63 billion.

Representing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri thanked KOICA for its support of the "Building of Medium and Long-Term Cooperation Vision between Vietnam and South Korea for the Agricultural Sector from 2023 to 2030". This is a significant and practical endeavor to promote the sustainable development of agricultural cooperation between Vietnam and South Korea.

The Deputy Minister also suggested that the "Mid- and long-term cooperation vision" should focus on: further promoting the potential and comparative advantages of the two sides; diversifying forms of cooperation from technical assistance and technology transfer to new forms of investment such as public-private partnerships, joint ventures, and value chain linkages; encouraging and attracting investment in agriculture; enhancing the quality and value of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products; and enhancing the competitiveness of the agricultural, forestry, and fishery sectors

In addition, the leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development asked KOICA to support a number of contents, including technical support for projects on sustainable plant development in Vietnam, from seed production, planting, care, processing, variable, output...; building high-tech nurseries, transferring forestry seedling production technologies; perfecting mechanisms and policies to encourage the participation of organizations and individuals in organizational activities; and building high-tech nurseries, transferring forestry seedling production technologies.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri also anticipated that KOICA would continue to support technical assistance programs for Vietnam's forestry sector, particularly for climate change response work in the country's most vulnerable regions. 

On behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Deputy Minister pledged to direct relevant agencies to effectively implement programs and projects to enhance the competitiveness and capacity of relevant actors so that they can contribute to the development of the agricultural sector in the direction of sustainable development and join the global value chain.

Mr. Kim Dong Ho, Vice President of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), committed to accompanying and assisting Vietnam in its pursuit of sustainable agricultural development, in accordance with the South Korean policy directed by the President of the Republic of Korea. The leaders of KOICA are also looking forward to receiving proposals from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the near future, and they have stated that they will direct the relevant agencies to coordinate, implement, and respond to the Vietnamese side as soon as possible.