Malaysia, South Korea to boost agricultural cooperation

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia and South Korea will strengthen bilateral cooperation and trade in agriculture in line with the need to ensure sustainable and continuous sources of food.

The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry said both countries also agreed to enhance further cooperation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on agriculture cooperation in line with the 40th anniversary of the Look East Policy this year.

The Ministry in a statement on Saturday (May 13) said through the agreement, both countries agreed to share knowledge, experience, best practice and business opportunities as well as cooperation proposals in food security and agricultural innovation technology to deal with the challenges in the agricultural sector.

On Friday (May 12), Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu received a courtesy call from South Korea’s Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister, Chung Hwang-Keun at Putrajaya, which was also the first meeting between the two leaders.

According to the Ministry, the Republic of Korea is a trading partner of Malaysia, active in strengthening its agricultural trade relations.

"For the period from 2020 to 2022, the value of agricultural trade between the two countries shows a progressive and positive growth, which increased to RM1.0 billion annually," said the statement.

The meeting between the two leaders was also attended by the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry secretary-general and senior Ministry officers as well as the director-generals and representatives from the Department of Veterinary Services, Department of Fisheries, Malaysian Agricultural Development Research Institute and Department of Agriculture. - Bernama