Korea stressing caregiver role at the global level

Summary: SUWON Gyeonggi A two hour forum on Tuesday discussing ways to improve Afghanistan s agricultural sector was supposed to have a break at 4 15 p m but Mohammad Arif Aqil and 17 other participants from Afghanistan showed no intention of slowing it down even for a few minutes At the forum held at the International Technical Cooperation Center of the Rural Development Administration RDA here in this city south of Seoul the Afghan contingent comprised of agricultural officials from the war torn country kept the three RDA representatives busy answering questions or requests through an Afghan English interpreter We need items like trucks health experts artificial insemination technologies for livestock and research expertise and we want to know whether the RDA can help us on this said Aqil director of DAIL the Afghan state agency in charge of animal health during the forum I didn t expect it to be heated like this said Moon Hong kil director of the RDA who attended the forum They had many requests for us and we will see how we will be able to help with those requests The forum part of a two week training program that the RDA regularly arranges for officials of developing countries this time for Afghanistan provided a glimpse into Korea s transformation into a world caregiver Korea it seems has a strong will to attain that goal Two or three decades ago RDA sent people to the Netherlands or Japan to learn about advanced technologies from those countries and now Korea is in a position of teaching said Cho Weon bae who worked at the RDA for 33 years It is amazing to see that change and I am happy to be part of it Korea host of the recently concluded G 20 Summit in Seoul at which it successfully presented development issues is trying to play an increasing role in helping less developed countries to go hand in hand with its rising international status And the RDA a state body under the Ministry for Food Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries is aiming to be at the forefront of the effort Indeed the programs run by the RDA have been assessed as effectively promoting Korea as an international donor In a recent government assessment on international programs run by 39 state agencies the RDA won the top spot There are many areas in which Korea could help develop less affluent countries said Na Seung yeol director general of the technical cooperation bureau of the RDA But food as many global experts agree is the most urgent issue in international aid and the RDA with its specialty in agriculture is confident that it can provide crucial help from Korea The RDA has 10 overseas bases in Asia Africa and Latin America Named the Korean Project for International Agriculture Center Kopia the bases provide technical or agricultural help to the countries they are based in The RDA also created two multilateral conference bodies in Africa and in Asia through which it is implementing various cooperative projects with countries on the two continents Among them the Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative or Afaci had its first summit in April in the Philippines where 12 member countries agreed on various projects Two of the projects cover the entire Asian region including building a network for agricultural technological information about Asia The others are designed for each member country such as development of major crops and technology consulting for Bangladesh conservation and utilization of genetic sources of food for Nepal and postharvest management of fruits and vegetables for Sri Lanka So far around 3 700 people from 116 countries have come to Korea since 1972 on an RDA program supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency Koica According to director general Na Cambodia s vice prime minister a Thai lawmaker and the Sri Lankan deputy agricultural minister were among the trainees of the RDA program If they come here for training we try to train them with care So by the time they go back home many of them become a fan of Korea Na said Seven countries including Vietnam Cambodia Thailand and the Philippines even have an RDA alumni association comprised of those who have taken the RDA program The RDA also invites experts from several countries on a long term basis Mauricio Antonio Lopes an agricultural scientist from Brazil has been working at the RDA since October 2009 under an exchange program with Embrapa or the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation Lopes said the RDA is doing enough work that it can represent Korea s international contribution in the agricultural sector Afaci and Kafaci are from what I can perceive definitely designed by the RDA to play a really important role in critical issues by having knowledge and achieving a certain level of capacity and playing the role of supporting international programs and activities to deal with pressing problems especially food security he said Cho of the RDA has opened a second chapter of his life in Vietnam After retiring from the RDA in August 2009 he moved to Hanoi to head the Kopia center there The center has only 13 staff members and takes up a tiny space in the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Science But Cho said scientists are eager to learn from the Koreans The center for instance is collaborating with the Vietnamese on bio energy plants and premium vegetables he said By Moon Gwang lip joe joongang co kr Copyrights ⓒ JoongangIlbo Jcube Interactive Inc All rights reserved SUWON Gyeonggi A two hour forum on Tuesday discussing ways to improve Afghanistan s agricultural sector was supposed to have a break at 4 15 p m but Mohammad Arif Aqil and 17 other participants from Afghanistan showed no intention of slowing it down even for a few minutes At the forum held at the International Technical Cooperation Center of the Rural Development Administration RDA here in this city south of Seoul the Afghan contingent comprised of agricultural officials from the war torn country kept the three RDA representatives busy answering questions or requests through an Afghan English interpreter We need items like trucks health experts artificial insemination technologies for livestock and research expertise and we want to know whether the RDA can help us on this said Aqil director of DAIL the Afghan state agency in charge of animal health during the forum I didn t expect it to be heated like this said Moon Hong kil director of the RDA who attended the forum They had many requests for us and we will see how we will be able to help with those requests The forum part of a two week training program that the RDA regularly arranges for officials of developing countries this time for Afghanistan provided a glimpse into Korea s transformation into a world caregiver Korea it seems has a strong will to attain that goal Two or three decades ago RDA sent people to the Netherlands or Japan to learn about advanced technologies from those countries and now Korea is in a position of teaching said Cho Weon bae who worked at the RDA for 33 years It is amazing to see that change and I am happy to be part of it Korea host of the recently concluded G 20 Summit in Seoul at which it successfully presented development issues is trying to play an increasing role in helping less developed countries to go hand in hand with its rising international status And the RDA a state body under the Ministry for Food Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries is aiming to be at the forefront of the effort Indeed the programs run by the RDA have been assessed as effectively promoting Korea as an international donor In a recent government assessment on international programs run by 39 state agencies the RDA won the top spot There are many areas in which Korea could help develop less affluent countries said Na Seung yeol director general of the technical cooperation bureau of the RDA But food as many global experts agree is the most urgent issue in international aid and the RDA with its specialty in agriculture is confident that it can provide crucial help from Korea The RDA has 10 overseas bases in Asia Africa and Latin America Named the Korean Project for International Agriculture Center Kopia the bases provide technical or agricultural help to the countries they are based in The RDA also created two multilateral conference bodies in Africa and in Asia through which it is implementing various cooperative projects with countries on the two continents Among them the Asian Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative or Afaci had its first summit in April in the Philippines where 12 member countries agreed on various projects Two of the projects cover the entire Asian region including building a network for agricultural technological information about Asia The others are designed for each member country such as development of major crops and technology consulting for Bangladesh conservation and utilization of genetic sources of food for Nepal and postharvest management of fruits and vegetables for Sri Lanka So far around 3 700 people from 116 countries have come to Korea since 1972 on an RDA program supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency Koica According to director general Na Cambodia s vice prime minister a Thai lawmaker and the Sri Lankan deputy agricultural minister were among the trainees of the RDA program If they come here for training we try to train them with care So by the time they go back home many of them become a fan of Korea Na said Seven countries including Vietnam Cambodia Thailand and the Philippines even have an RDA alumni association comprised of those who have taken the RDA program The RDA also invites experts from several countries on a long term basis Mauricio Antonio Lopes an agricultural scientist from Brazil has been working at the RDA since October 2009 under an exchange program with Embrapa or the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation Lopes said the RDA is doing enough work that it can represent Korea s international contribution in the agricultural sector Afaci and Kafaci are from what I can perceive definitely designed by the RDA to play a really important role in critical issues by having knowledge and achieving a certain level of capacity and playing the role of supporting international programs and activities to deal with pressing problems especially food security he said Cho of the RDA has opened a second chapter of his life in Vietnam After retiring from the RDA in August 2009 he moved to Hanoi to head the Kopia center there The center has only 13 staff members and takes up a tiny space in the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Science But Cho said scientists are eager to learn from the Koreans The center for instance is collaborating with the Vietnamese on bio energy plants and premium vegetables he said By Moon Gwang lip joe joongang co kr Copyrights ⓒ JoongangIlbo Jcube Interactive Inc All rights reserved

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