An International Agro-& Bio-Tech Seminar for Bangladesh, held by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), opened in Beijing on Wednesday, attended by 30 officials in Bangladesh's agricultural sector.

"The seminar is aimed at enhancing exchanges and cooperation in agriculture between China and Bangladesh as well as helping Bangladesh develop agriculture and solve the food security issue," said Pan Xianzheng, party secretary of the national agricultural technology center under the ministry said.

During the 20-day seminar, experts and scholars from relevant departments of the MOA, agricultural universities and institutions of China will introduce China's agricultural reform and development and agro and bio-tech development and application.

Participants of the seminar will also visit China's agricultural research and education organizations, labs, experimental bases and enterprises.

Monirul Islam, minister of the Bangladesh Embassy in China, noted the importance of agriculture for the economy of Bangladesh, saying the agricultural sector contributes 50 percent of the Bangladesh's GDP.

"With seven percent of the world's land, China has to feed 20 percent of the world's population. The participants here can take lessons from China to revolutionize agriculture in our own country," Islam said.

"China and Bangladesh have cooperated extensively. In terms of human resource cooperation, 20 percent of Bangladeshi officials had taken training courses in China by March 2007," said Peng Shujian, head of the foreign aid department at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2007)