Australian Ambassador to Korea James Choi Visited KREI, Discussed Two Countries’ Agricultural Cooperation

On April 27, Australian ambassador to the Republic of Korea, James Choi, and his party visited the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI), and discussed common interests regarding agri-food trade between the two countries and agricultural and rural development with KREI President Kim Changgil and experts at the Institute. Particularly, considering a growing high value-added food market due to the increase in incomes of China and Southeast Asia, both sides agreed that the Korea and Australia could cooperate in terms of agri-food trade and participation in the global value chain. Also, opinions were exchanged concerning the two governments’ countermeasures to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Korean agriculture sector’s concerns over the CPTPP. In addition, the two parties discussed rural aging and agricultural labor shortages in both countries and the quality of rural life.