At the reception, Deputy PM Hai thanked the RoK government and people in general and former PM Lee Soo-sung in particular for supporting Vietnam’s agricultural development, as well as sharing experiences in building a new rural area.

He said he was pleased with the delegation’s signing of a memorandum of understanding on agricultural mechanisation and a plant breeding programme with Vietnam.

Vietnam has implemented a series of policies on agriculture, farmers and rural areas, he said, adding that the country has also poured a huge amount of capital into improving irrigation, seedling work, changing management mechanisms and encouraging farmers to make the best use of their cultivation land.

According to the Deputy PM, with the combination of national objective programmes, Vietnam has seen remarkable progress in developing agriculture and rural areas, shifting from a country that suffered food shortages to an exporter of agricultural products.

For his part, Lee Soo-sung, also former President of the New Village Movement, expressed his belief that Vietnam will bring its agriculture to a new level of development and improve living standards for farmers.