Ministry of Foreign Affairs Partners with Local Governments for Development Cooperation... ODA Capacity Building Workshop

40 Participants Including Officials from 15 Local Governments
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Introduces Development Cooperation Strategies for New Southern and New Northern Regions

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the 17th that it held the '2020 Local Government Official Development Assistance (ODA) Capacity Building Workshop' via video conference on the 16th. More than 40 participants, including officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and 15 local governments, attended the video conference to discuss cooperation measures between central and local governments to promote integrated and effective grant aid.

The workshop consisted of presentations on △ The Korean government's regional and sectoral development cooperation promotion directions (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) △ Participation methods in projects through KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) △ Cooperation methods through regional development cooperation centers (Daegu International Development Cooperation Center) △ Considerations when implementing local government ODA projects (Professor Jang Hye-young, Chung-Ang University) △ Local government project performance management methods (Ministry of the Interior and Safety).

In particular, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced the government's development cooperation promotion strategies for the New Southern and New Northern regions and requested active project discovery by each local government, while proposing ways to implement specialized projects utilizing the unique experiences and expertise of each local government.

Additionally, the ministry provided guidance on participation methods in projects through KOICA, including government ministry proposed projects (local governments), public project competitions by the International Development Cooperation Project Council (local public institutions), and innovative technology programs (local enterprises). They also requested cooperation from local governments for the smooth operation of international development cooperation centers established in five regions to provide ODA education to local residents.

The attendees agreed on the necessity of local governments' grant aid projects that align with Korea's foreign policy goals and directions, emphasizing the need for local governments to promote ODA projects based on selection and concentration, as well as active support from the central government.

Meanwhile, as a follow-up to this workshop, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and KOICA plan to conduct 'Visiting Local Government ODA Consulting' at KOICA's Busan office and international development cooperation centers in December. This is expected to be an opportunity for in-depth discussions with each local government on △ Directions for discovering regional development cooperation projects and △ Participation methods for local enterprises in the development cooperation procurement market.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.