Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia and the Republic of Korea (Rok) will strengthen bilateral cooperation and trade in agriculture, according to Malaysia’s Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (MAFS).
The ministry said the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on agriculture cooperation on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Look East Policy this year.
Under the document, the two countries will share knowledge, experience, best practice, and business opportunities as well as cooperation proposals in food security and agricultural innovation technology to deal with the challenges in the agricultural sector.
Earlier, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu received RoK’s Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Chung Hwang-Keun at Putrajaya, which was also the first meeting between the two leaders.
According to MAFS, the RoK is an important trading partner of Malaysia, active in strengthening its agricultural trade relations.
From 2020 to 2022, the value of agricultural trade between the two countries shows progressive and positive growth, which increased to 1 billion RM (222.37 million USD) annually.
The Look East Policy, announced by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, aims to shift the focus of the relationship from the West to emerging Asian countries, especially Japan and the RoK, thereby helping to promote industrialisation in Malaysia./.