O Tae-wan, Uiryeong County Governor, Business Trip to Three European Countries for Advanced Agriculture Benchmarking

Participation in Training Hosted by the National Association of County Governors in Rural and Fishing Villages

Otaewan, the governor of Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongnam, announced that he will participate in the Overseas Training Program for Advanced Agricultural and Fishing Villages organized by the National Association of County Governors of Agricultural and Fishing Villages. He departed on a 7-night, 9-day business trip to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands from the 3rd to the 11th.

O Tae-wan, Uiryeong County Governor. [Image provided by Uiryeong County]

This national overseas training group for agricultural and fishing villages was formed to benchmark excellent cases from advanced agricultural countries and to promote sustainable future agriculture. It included 10 county governors from rural areas, such as Kim Jusu, chairman of the council from Uiseong-gun, Gyeongbuk, along with 24 participants including advisory committee members from the Korea Rural Economic Institute.

The training group will visit the headquarters of the Young Farmers Federation and the Issy-les-Moulineaux City Hall in France to examine sustainable organic farming practices in urban areas and youth farming policies.

Next, in Belgium, they will learn about global agricultural trends such as crop cultivation using robots and modernization of traditional markets in places like Beloitawa and Octinion. In the Netherlands, they will discuss revitalization plans for old downtown areas and development plans for climate change-adapted crops.

Finally, after visiting the Korean Cultural Center in France to explore ways to revitalize local culture, the group will follow a schedule including visits to the Saint-Pour?ain vineyards and Gardet House, which have increased farm income through secondary processed products of local specialties.

O Tae-wan, Uiryeong County Governor. [Image provided by Uiryeong County]

Meanwhile, as a result of this advanced agricultural overseas training, the county will receive 6.6 billion KRW from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s 2024 Local Extinction Response Fund. This will be used as a guideline for establishing a production, distribution, processing, and sales platform for local agricultural products, including planned projects such as the creation of smart rental farms for young and middle-aged farmers, smart facility improvements at agricultural product distribution centers, and the establishment of a local food entrepreneurship support center.