A Memorandum of Understanding on the partnership was signed in Vientiane on September 5 between the Director General of the Agriculture Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Bounchan Kombounyasith, and the CEO of Zoomlion, Mr Zhan Chunxin.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Dr Phet Phomphiphak, and the Governor of China’s Hunan province, Mr Mao Weiming, along with other government officials, company representatives and partners.
Dr Phet said “The signing of this agreement will help to meet the goals of the One Road, Two Zones project, on which Hunan province and Laos’ Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry signed an agreement in August 2022.”
“It is essential to modernise agriculture in Laos as an important step in furthering cooperation between Hunan province and Laos in a comprehensive way, and will lead to closer cooperation in agriculture and trade.”
Agriculture is a mainstay of Laos’ economy, due to the country’s large area of fertile land which is suitable for crop cultivation and livestock breeding.To encourage the use technology in the process of agricultural development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has set new goals to ensure national food security through the development of clean, safe and sustainable agriculture. The creation of a modern agricultural industry will contribute significantly to economic growth.Currently, the use of agricultural machinery in Laos is low, except on large farms, and a few commercial farms that have achieved partial linkage. Individual farmers, who produce most of the crops grown, rarely use modern machinery and are not part of an agricultural machinery market management system.
For this reason, crop yields are low, which slows the modernisation and overall development of Laos.
Last year, the value of imports and exports traded between Hunan province and Laos reached 1.24 billion yuan, an increase of 218.5 percent over the previous year.
Under the “One Road, Two Zones” project, which promotes agricultural cooperation, the value of trade in agricultural produce between the two sides soared to US$ 5.8 million in 2022, representing a 65-fold increase compared to the previous year.
Reference source: Times Reporters
