News
Deputy PM: Vietnam, RoK should step up agricultural cooperation
March 22, 2018
Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung has hailed the effective cooperation between the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of the Republic of Korea (NACF) over the past year, such as exchanging information and experience in developing cooperatives and human resources.
During his reception for NACF Chairman Kim Byung-won in Hanoi on March 22, Dung proposed the NACF continue assisting the VCA in training personnel, improving capacity for Vietnam’s agricultural cooperatives, establishing new-style cooperatives, providing supermarket management skills, and boosting cooperation in agricultural finance.
By the end of 2017, the RoK had invested in more than 6,400 projects with a combined investment capital of 57.66 billion USD, Dung said, adding that in 2017 the RoK led foreign investors in Vietnam with 8.31 billion USD in newly licensed and added investment.
(Vietnam News Agency)
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Project to strengthen farmer-based cooperatives launched
Mar. 14, 2018
A project to strengthen farmer-based cooperatives/organizations (FBCs/FBOs) in the three Northern Regions – Upper East, Upper West and Northern, to help raise the quality of life of the rural population, has been launched at a ceremony in Tamale.
It is a partnership between the government and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and involves training, financial support and networking.
The two-year project has been dubbed: “Capacity Development of FBCs/FBOs” and seeks to enhance the viability of the various cooperative schemes for sustainable development.
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Korea to supply 50,000 tons of rice as foreign aid
Mar. 1, 2018
Korea signed an agreement for food assistance with the World Food Programme (WFP), pledging to provide through the organization 50,000 tons of Korean rice, worth 46 billion won ($42.5 million) to people of developing countries suffering from starvation.
The donation follows Korea's joining of the Food Assistance Convention (FAC) in January as its 16th member country. Created in 1968, FAC aims at provide humanitarian food aid to developing countries. It recorded $3 billion worth of donation pledges and fulfillments in 2017. Upon joining the convention, Korea agreed to supply 46 billion won worth food assistance in 2018.
According to the ministry, 50,000 tons of Grade A rice produced in Korea will be donated. Rice polishing and packaging work will begin in March and is slated to be completed in the first half of the year, with plans for distribution to donor countries in the second half. The WFP will be in charge of shipping and distribution.
The rice will be donated to five recipient countries the government selected in consultation with the WFP as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Syria and Yemen in the Middle East and Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda in Africa. They are suffering severe food shortages due to conflict and natural disasters. Each recipient country will get 10,000 tons of rice.
(Yoon Jayoung(The Korea Times, yjy@ktimes.com)
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South Korea promotes culinary delight, food aid at Pyeongchang
Feb. 13, 2018
South Korea will strengthen efforts to eradicate global hunger and promote wellness around the world with food aid and culinary excellence, according to Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Kim Yung-rok, in an interview with UPI.
In 2010, South Korea became the first country to transition from being an aid recipient to a donor of ODA. Since then, the country has been sharing its homegrown rural development model by introducing modern farming techniques and new agricultural technologies to communities around the world.
Out of the 3.2 billion dollars allotted for ODA in South Korea's government budget for this year, around 70 million is dedicated to agricultural development in 15 countries around the world.
Kim says his ministry plans to expand assistance by customizing aid to the needs of the beneficiary countries.
(Jennie Oh (UPI))
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