(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kang Sung-cheol = International development NGO Global Sharing Movement (Chairman Kim Hye-kyung) announced on the 3rd that a central-local government workshop to activate the implementation plan of Laos' agricultural and rural development policy was held in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on October 31.
The workshop was organized as part of the establishment of the rural development implementation strategy and the pilot project for increasing farmers' income by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
Participants in the workshop included officials from the Rural Development Bureau, the Agricultural Bureau, the Livestock Bureau, the Agricultural Cooperatives, and the Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency, as well as the Korea-Laos Agricultural Technology and Rural Development Service Center.
Additionally, officials from the agricultural environment bureaus of 17 provinces, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the National Institute of Socio-Economic Research, the National University of Laos, the Cabinet Office and the Planning and Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Land Management and Development Department, and the National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, as well as international organizations such as the International Water Management Institute, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, the Australian Department of Agriculture, Oxfam, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also participated.
During this workshop, the contents of the "Laos Agricultural and Rural Development Policy Implementation Plan" (ARD PAP), officially approved in June, were shared for the local governments.
The ARD PAP includes implementation plans for four major sectors: strengthening the competitiveness of the rice industry, commercializing the vegetable and horticulture industry, advancing the livestock industry, and improving rural development and governance. Each sector has set key tasks such as organizing producers, building infrastructure, quality control, and regional development.
An official from the National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology of Laos said, "It was meaningful to have a place to discuss with many local governments for the implementation of the development strategy jointly established by Korea and Laos," and emphasized, "We need to make efforts so that the ARD PAP is not just a policy document but is actually implemented and many pilot projects can proceed."
The Laos Agricultural and Rural Development Policy Implementation Plan (ARD PAP), which formed the basis for the discussion of this workshop, will be published in Lao, Korean, and English and distributed to various agencies and international partner organizations.
wakaru@yna.co.kr