The Mekong International Agricultural Expo 2011 opened in the southern city of Soc Trang on April 27 with the participation of businesses from Mekong delta region as well as from Cambodia , Indonesia and India .

At the expo, which is held under the theme “Towards an agriculture of quality, safety and sustainable development”, businesses introduce their projects designed for agricultural and rural development and display their products including machinery, animal feed, fertilizers, and plant varieties at more than 300 booths.

At the opening ceremony, the expo’s organising board presented the “Golden Rice Award” to 70 businesses, 20 scientists, and 35 outstanding farmers.

On this occasion, the gold medals for quality were also presented to 18 products and 40 scholarships each worth 500,000 VND to students from poor families of the Khmer ethnic group in Soc Trang province.

The expo will run until May 4./.