COLOMBO: KOICA as specialized development agency KOICA, Korea International Cooperation Agency is a Korean government agency focused on development cooperation for people, peace, prosperity, and planet. Since the establishment of Sri Lankan Office, KOICA has conducted numerous programs with pivotal strategic goals such as education, transportation, water management and Sanitation, and rural development, thus successfully augmenting the development of Sri Lanka since 1995. KOICA has various modalities for the Sri Lanka’s development like Projects, Public-Private Partnerships, Fellowship and Volunteer Programs which are implemented island-wide at present. Even under the challenging circumstances due to the Covid-19 pandemic, KOICA made a breakthrough by transforming the physical volunteer program into e-volunteering in order to support Korean language education. KOICA is now pursuing to resume dispatching Korean volunteers to Sri Lanka just as before the Covid-19 pandemic. KOICA is a trustworthy partner of Sri Lanka to meet the current needs of national development. In particular, the Office handed over new school constructed and emergency educational supplies as part of education support to the Kilinochchi District in collaboration with UNICEF this year. With these as momentum, the bilateral ties are expected to widen and deepen further in the coming years.
EXIM Bank as staunch development partner
Sri Lanka is a principal official development assistance (ODA) cooperation partner country and also one of the top five nations to benefit from its Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). Sri Lanka is so precious to Korea and it is evident by the investment in various ODA projects and grants benefitting Sri Lanka since 1987 that exceeds US$ 900 million in a total of concessional loans through the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank). For instance, the Framework Arrangement enabling the Sri Lankan Government to obtain soft loans of a value of up to $500 million (USD) from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) of the Korean Government was renewed for the years from 2020 to 2022.
Saemaul Foundation and KOPIA as new motivation to the rural development
The New Village Movement known as the Saemaul Undong by Saemaul Foundation in Sri Lanka has achieved success in developing rural livelihood through meaningful initiatives implemented in Sri Lanka. Their projects aim to improve community well-being through agricultural production, household income, village life, communal empowerment and regeneration, and women’s participation. Currently Saemaul Hewadiwela, Pahalagama, Pitiyegama Mushroom Co-operative Societies, and Kegalle Mushroom Projects yielded significant results and assisted Sri Lankans to transform communities through their efforts, diligence, and cooperation. Thanks to the effort from this Foundation, onion productivity in Sri Lanka was increased, and as a result Sri Lankan farmers can become more self-sufficient. In particular, this Foundation participated to the Fair on in International Women’s Day by the suggestion from the UN Woman and Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, Sri Lanka. Moreover, this office initiated SAEFOREN program which stands for Saemaul for Children to provide educational supplies for young students in need from rural areas since 2021.
KOPIA, Korea Program on International Agriculture, is another agency committed to improve agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale farmers in our partner countries, to develop and disseminate tailored agricultural technologies to local circumstances and needs. Since 2011, the KOPIA Centre has been assisting with the onion production in Sri Lanka, in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture (DOA) in Mahailluppallama