KOICA Activities in Cambodia

■ KOICA‘s Mandate

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) was established in April 1991 to implement the Korean government's foreign grant aid and technical cooperation programs. KOICA contributes to strengthening friendly relationships with its partner countries by promoting socio-economic development in the developing world.

■ KOICA‘s Vision

KOICA strives to realize its mission of 'Making a better world together' by promoting people's participation, adopting advanced aid systems and through the development of Korean-type aid models.

■ KOICA Cambodia Office

Having seen a rapidly increased development cooperation promoted between two countries, KOICA set up an overseas office in Cambodia in 2003. With an amount of US$ 10 million in 2007 for country assistance, Cambodia is the 2nd largest country in terms of KOICA's annual disbursement.

■ Country Assistance Strategy

As the importance of partner countries' ownership and the cooperation with donor countries is increasing, Cambodia Office, with its own Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), tries to align with Cambodian government's development plan and donors' code of practice to achieve the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). At the same time, Cambodia Office understands that Korea's astonishing experience of economic development and poverty reduction is also worth applied to Cambodian society with Korean-type assistance models.

■ Sectoral Priorities

Cambodia Office's four sectoral priorities are Rural Development, Healthcare, Education and Infrastructure. Cambodia Office focuses on sectors in which Korea is best suited to help reduce poverty and promote the socio-economic development of Cambodia based on CAS.

■ Types of Assistance

To facilitate its priorities, Cambodia Office utilizes six types of assistance which include project aid, feasibility study, dispatch of overseas volunteers, training programs, dispatch of experts, partnerships with NGOs and Int'l organizations.

■ Highlights in 2008

In 2008, Cambodia Office has been actively working on various development programs in partnership with other donor organizations as well as the Cambodian government. To highlight, the amount of budget allocated to Cambodia will reach up to US$ 10 million with programs as follows;

- project aid : 7 projects conducted with US$7.5 million

- feasibility study : 2 programs conducted with US$1.6 million

- dispatch of overseas volunteers : 57 volunteers dispatched with US$2 million

- training programs : 149 participants invited with US$0.7 million

- dispatch of experts : 2 experts dispatched with US$0.2 million

- partnerships with NGOs and Int'l organizations : 10 NGOs and 1 Int'l organization involved with US$0.6 million

■ Prospects in 2009

Cambodia Office is eager to improve the quality of aid programs and strengthen the expertise on priority sectors, which is why Cambodia Office will try to expand its partnership with development partners as well as the Cambodian government in 2009. In addition, Cambodia Office, as a part of global involvement, will make every effort to take actions on worldwide issues such as climate change.