1. Min Dong-seok, 2nd Vice Foreign Minister, is scheduled to visit Laos, Rwanda, and Uganda, the Official 
Development Assistance (ODA) partners of Korea, on Oct. 24-28. During his visits, the Vice Minister will 
consult on bilateral ODA cooperation with major government officials, including Thongloun and Somdy, the 
Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Planning and Investment, respectively, of Laos, and visit ODA 
project sites.

2. The Vice Minister plans to visit the Lao-Korea National Children’s Friendship Hospital, which has been 
built with the support of KOICA and is soon to open in Laos, one of the least developed nations in 
Southeast Asia, and the Lao-Korea Agricultural Development Center, which has been established with a 
view to increasing the production of rice seeds and improving the management system of seeds in Laos. 
During his visits, he will encourage KOICA volunteers and project workers who have made dedicated 
efforts to help eradicate poverty and build human capacity in Laos. 

※ The Korean government provided an ODA of USD 116 million for Laos over the period between 1991 
and 2010 (USD 61.5 million in grants and 54.84 million in concessional loans). This is the 13th largest 
amount of ODA Korea has provided to a country.  

※ The Lao-Korea National Children’s Friendship Hospital project, worth USD 3.5 million, includes the 
construction of a mid-sized hospital (100-bed), and the dispatch of Lao trainees to Korea and Korean 
experts to Laos, to enhance the capabilities of health workers in Laos. The construction began in 2009 
and is set to open at the end of November, 2011.

3. Rwanda and Uganda, in particular, are actively implementing the Korean-style New Community 
Movement, or the Saemaeul Movement, with the support of KOICA and North Gyeongsang Province, 
which aim to share Korea’s experience of successful agricultural development with African countries. 
The Vice Minister will pay a visit to the sites and encourage the 15 volunteers from the North Gyeongsang 
Province.

o In Rwanda, the Vice Minister will attend the donation ceremony of portable hospitals (two mobile clinics 
on 5-ton trucks) held by Hyundai Motor Company. The donation is part of the company’s effort to 
strengthen its corporate social responsibility as well as help improve the health care services in Africa.

o In Uganda, the Vice Minister will visit a pig farm in the Makerere University (the first college regarded as 
the origin of universities in East Africa), which has dramatically improved its operational capacity after 
receiving a training by KOICA and in the Canaan Farmhand School.

4. The visit by the Vice Minister to the ODA project sites is expected to serve as a good opportunity to 
deepen the development cooperation partnership between Korea and Laos, Rwanda, and Uganda and 
evaluate the progress of the projects. It will also provide a golden opportunity to share the meaning and 
importance of ODA projects and overseas volunteering, which have been drawing increasing interest 
in Korea in the wake of its accession to the OECD DAC in 2010.  


                 Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT

* unofficial translation