SOUTH Korean officials chose Lackham College to visit while on a European tour to find out about farming in Western countries.

During their whistle stop tour they visited the agricultural campus in Lacock and spoke to experts about the way that rural Wiltshire communities and businesses receive help through grants and economic development support from the Local Enterprise Partnership, Wiltshire Council and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Among the 23 delegates were two Government officials and officials from local authorities in South Korea already following western systems to support their own rural communities.

Speaking after the conference, translator Eunhee Wie-Follett said: “Wiltshire is absolutely beautiful, it is a fantastic day to visit the area. We are going to visit Bath for the rest of the day.

“We have noticed many things that are similar in both England and South Korea in our systems of working in terms of how authorities make grants for rural payments.

“But obviously we still have a lot to learn as our system is not as long standing as in England and Europe. It was very refreshing to hear directly how you support farmers for all types of activities such as paying out for the seed for the animals and grants to support businesses.”

Alison Morgan, lead for rural development at Wiltshire Council, added: “The group was keen to find out how we support rural development as we’ve got more of a history. They even said that in some ways the European system was a benchmark for them.”

The group were due to visit Bath before heading to Paris to continue their European tour after seeing the campus on Monday (Oct 22).

Speaking after the visit Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s head of investment and export Phil Clement said: "We are delighted to have been asked by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to host this delegation visit. Choosing Wiltshire as their location of choice in the UK recognises the strong world-leading rural economy in our area. Rural businesses make a vital contribution to the economy of Swindon and Wiltshire generating around 44 per cent of annual economic output, more than £7bn each year and there’s potential for that to grow.

“We are working with a range of partners across the private, public and academic sectors to help shape the Swindon and Wiltshire ‘offer’ to prospective inward investors and are also working with local businesses to support their growth aspirations.

"We look forward to exploring potential opportunities for inward investment and export that might arise from this visit.”