Korea Rural Community Corp., an affiliate of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, is expanding international exchanges in an effort to export the nation’s rural development model.

“As a model country for achieving self-sufficiency in staple grains within a century, we hope to share our expertise and knowledge in development of the agricultural sector with other developing nations,” said KRC president Lee Sang-mu.

His remark on Tuesday came during a seminar held on the sidelines of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage Congress. The largest international gathering of opinion leaders in the agriculture sector is being held in Gwangju from Sept. 14-20.

According to the KRC, the event organizer, the ICID Congress in Gwangju has brought together up to 1,200 government officials and specialists from 60 countries to share their knowledge and research in the rural sector. 

On Tuesday, government officials from 18 countries, including Argentina, India, the Philippines and Thailand, will come together to learn about South Korea’s agriculture development experiences and to discuss irrigation, agriculture governance and water resources development in developing nations.

Experts from international organizations including the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, Food and Agriculture Organization, and the World Bank Group also joined the meeting.

On Wednesday, the KRC signed a memorandum of understanding with the agriculture ministry of Kyrgyz Republic to improve technical cooperation in both nations’ agricultural production infrastructure and irrigation facilities.

“This is a follow-up measure to the discussion both nations’ presidents had in November 2013 to improve a partnership of agriculture development between South Korea and the Kyrgyz Republic,” a KRC official said.

Both countries agreed to cooperate in technical support for agriculture production infrastructure and irrigation facilities, farming development for improving food production and the modernization of agriculture infrastructure.

Kyrgyz Agriculture Minister Aidaraliev Taalaibek and around 100 other government officials joined the ceremony to celebrate the partnership.

“We hope to strengthen the partnership between both nations’ agriculture industries through South Korea’s advanced agriculture technology and KRC’s related knowledge and expertise,” he said.

The ICID is a nongovernmental organization consisting of 96 member nations, and partners with 50 international organizations including the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank and the World Meteorological Organization to deal with global issues on water, agriculture, environment and food.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)