Korea strengthens agriculture, land use cooperation in Central, South America

• Published date: 05 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

A delegation of high-level government officials has discussed ways to fortify cooperation with three Central and South American countries in the areas of agriculture and spatial data management, the land ministry said Sunday.

Among the priorities of the delegation was to promote Korea's bid to host World Expo 2030 in Busan, mostly by strengthening ties with policymakers in Paraguay, Colombia and Guyana. They are members of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the intergovernmental organization in charge of overseeing and regulating World Expos.

The land and foreign ministries, two of the agriculture ministry-affiliated agencies ? Rural Development Administration (RDA) and Korea Forest Service ? as well as the Korea Real Estate Board, a land ministry-affiliated organization, visited from Feb. 27 to March 3 (local time).

The delegation spent two of the five-day trip in Paraguay to discuss cooperation in agriculture research, forest services and spatial data management.

During the meeting, Edgar Esteche, the president of the Paraguayan Institute of Agrarian Technology (IPTA), expressed great interest in expanding cooperation with Korea, as cemented by Korea Partnership for Innovation of Agriculture (KOPIA), an RDA-led global development project.

The IPTA head said more public-private partnerships between the two countries will bear outcomes to the advantage of both in the long term.

Gloria Padres, the country's land administration head, and Paraguari Mayor Ariel Simbron showed particular interest in Korea's experience in spatial data management and land administration.

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