January 13 is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Kim Il Sung Institute of Agricultural Science in Guinea.

To mark the day, we recollect with deep emotion the heartwarming story about the establishment of the institute of agricultural science in Guinea--a long way off beyond the continent and the ocean--which shines as a symbol of friendship between the two countries along with the august name of President Kim Il Sung.

President Kim Il Sung, in his speech made at the Consultative Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture from Eastern and Western Africa who attended the Symposium of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries on Increasing Food and Agricultural Production held in Pyongyang in August 1981, specified the direction and tasks of increasing agricultural production in the East and West African countries. As one of its solutions, he proposed establishing an institute of agricultural science in Guinea.

In November that year, he dispatched our agro-experts to Guinea as a field survey mission to establish the institute. He also took an immediate step to send materials and equipment such as cement, steel materials and tractors needed for building and operating the institute, saying that it should be built well to stand as an example in Africa even though it costs a lot of money.

Under such meticulous care of President Kim Il Sung, the institute of agricultural science came to be built splendidly in Kindia Province, Guinea, on January 13 1982.

The then President, Ahmed Sékou Touré, high-ranking officials and other Guinean people agreed to name the institute after President Kim Il Sung out of their boundless gratitude to and admiration for him who had rendered both material and moral support for the agricultural development of their country.

Kim Il Sung Institute of Agricultural Science in Guinea achieved wonderful sci-tech successes from the first year of its inception. It made a great contribution to producing as much as 5-8 tons of rice and corn per hectare even without applying fertilizer on the land which had produced only 1 ton previously. From that time on, the institute has been trying to develop and introduce new varieties of grain seeds and cultivating techniques suitable for the climatic and soil conditions of Guinea.

Today, the institute is playing an important role in training the agro-technicians in Guinea and other West African countries and in developing and disseminating advanced agricultural methods and producing seeds.

President Kim Il Sung took benevolent steps of dispatching our competent agro-experts and technicians to several African countries including Guinea, Uganda and Equatorial Guinea in order to help these countries build their own experimental farms.

Kim Il Sung Institute of Agricultural Science in Guinea, which was built in the African continent as a symbol of DPRK-Guinea friendship, will hand down forever the immortal exploits of President Kim Il Sung who showed sincere devotion to the agricultural development in Guinea and assisted African countries with all sincerity in their efforts to develop agriculture and solve food problems.

The Korea-Africa Association highly appreciates the Guinean people for their efforts to meet the food need by developing agriculture. It will make an active contribution to expanding and developing cooperative relations between the two countries and peoples in agriculture and other fields.