The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has been very instrumental in progressing various development priorities in Fiji totalling over US$100 million dollars, such as advancing our resilience to Climate Change, modernisation of our health facilities and capacity building of our education sector, to name a few.
The above was highlighted by the Director of Asia, Middle East and Russia Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Josefa Tuima while delivering his keynote address at the inauguration of the 2023 KOICA Knowledge Sharing Forum.
Attended by the KOICA Alumni, the Forum enabled networking opportunities between various ministries in the hope of exchanging knowledge and experiences to further advance development cooperation and capacity building between Fiji and Korea.
On behalf of the Government and people of Fiji, Mr. Tuima extended sincere appreciation to KOICA for the ongoing contribution for Fiji’s development through initiatives aimed at improving the livelihood of our communities and empowering women and children.
The remarkable contributions of KOICA Fiji Club in leading community development projects through its volunteer work, donations and social initiatives to make a positive impact in the communities, was also acknowledged.
Mr. Tuima mentioned that there are over 167 KOICA volunteers in the Pacific region which is a testament of the growing connectivity and people to people exchanges between Korea and the Pacific Island Countries.
The Deputy Country Director for KOICA Fiji office Ms. Seoyeun Bang in her remarks highlighted that over 600 Fijian civil servants have gone through the fellowship and training program offered by KOICA since 1991.
She said KOICA aims to expand skills and capacity building opportunities for various ministries through provision of trainings to meet the needs of the Government of Fiji.
Just this year, KOICA managed to send 5 civil servants to Korea to attain their Master’s qualification in fields of Climate Change, Fisheries, Agriculture and Economic Development.
KOICA Fiji Deputy Country Director thanked Fiji Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Civil Service for their continued cooperation in organizing such initiatives to make positive changes at national level.
