Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and KOTRA co-host event with Laos agriculture ministry and FAO; 12 Korean smart farm firms take part; two MOUs and one LOI worth $1.1 million signed on site

KOTRA's Yangjae headquarters building. [KOTRA]
KOTRA's Yangjae headquarters building. [KOTRA]

South Korean smart farm companies are stepping up their push into Laos, an emerging agricultural market in Southeast Asia. As the Lao government pursues agricultural modernization as a key policy priority, efforts to apply Korean smart farm technology to local farming conditions are taking concrete shape.

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced Monday that it co-hosted the "2026 Laos Smart Farm Road Show" with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in Vientiane over two days beginning June 18.

The event was held jointly with Laos' Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Held for the second consecutive year, it drew 12 South Korean smart farm companies.

Agriculture employs about 70 percent of Laos' working population and accounts for 16 percent of its gross domestic product. The country has been moving to adopt smart farming to boost agricultural productivity and expand exports. The Lao government has made smart agriculture a central policy goal through its Agricultural Development Strategy 2025 and Vision 2030, as well as an agricultural modernization framework.

Agricultural cooperation between South Korea and Laos is also deepening. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs revised a bilateral agricultural cooperation memorandum of understanding in September 2024 to broaden the scope of smart farming technology collaboration. KOTRA has been supporting Korean smart farm companies' entry into the Lao market in line with both governments' policy priorities.

Korean companies with greenhouse cultivation equipment, high-yield crop growing solutions and smart farm remote management systems took part in the partnering consultation sessions. Local buyers expressed strong interest, saying Korean smart farm technology has strong potential for application in Laos' climate and agricultural conditions.

Discussions on pilot projects also advanced. The Lao Department of Agricultural Research built on a memorandum of understanding signed with Korean firm Ybiz in 2025 to hold working-level talks on a disease-free seedling cultivation pilot project. Disease-free seedlings — high-quality saplings free from pest and disease infection — are used to raise agricultural productivity and quality.

This year's event went beyond export consultations to include a field visit program. Participating companies traveled to Vientiane Province, met with the deputy governor, and toured a logistics center and farms. They also assessed the potential for linking into Eurasian markets via the China-Laos Railway.

The road show produced tangible results: two MOUs and one letter of intent worth a combined $1.1 million were signed on site. The deals lay the groundwork not only for exports of smart farm equipment and solutions but also for local pilot programs and partnership building.

Chanthakon Boulapha, Laos' vice minister of agriculture and environment, said the country expects "a dramatic leap forward in Lao agriculture through the digital technology of K-smart farms."

Kim Myung-hee, KOTRA executive vice president and head of the Industrial Innovation and Growth Division, said major countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania, including Laos, are consistently adopting smart farming to modernize their agriculture. "We will work with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to identify overseas demand and provide close support so that our companies can become the driving force behind agricultural digital transformation in Southeast Asia and Oceania," she said.

KOTRA plans to continue its K-smart farm export support drive following the Laos event, with smart farm export road shows scheduled in Australia in August and in Vietnam and Indonesia in September.


kwater@heraldcorp.com