The government held a ceremony on the 21st to commemorate the 2023 Development Cooperation Day and awarded related contributors.
The ceremony took place at The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, presided over by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Development Cooperation Day is an event to share the achievements of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and to declare Korea's commitment to the international community. It is held annually to coincide with the time Korea joined the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
In his commemorative speech, Prime Minister Han emphasized that Korea, as a global pivotal country, is boldly expanding the scale of ODA for the peace and prosperity of the global community, and requested support for the successful hosting of the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit and the bid for the 2030 Busan Expo.
In his congratulatory remarks, Cassos Jibao Matai, Ambassador of Sierra Leone to Korea, said, “Korea’s growth experience will serve as a model for African countries to shift paradigms toward sustainable development.” Carsten Staur, DAC Chair, also stated in a video message, “As donor countries’ ODA contributions become more important than ever, we welcome the active budget expansion.”
The government awarded honors to ODA contributors. Jeon Seung-hoon, Director of the Korea Development Strategy Institute, was recognized for his contributions to expanding Korean ODA through policy formulation and consultation and received the Moran Medal of the Order of Civil Merit. Sharia Kader Siddiqui, Deputy Secretary of the External Cooperation Wing at the Ministry of Finance of Bangladesh, was selected as a recipient of the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit for her contributions to discovering high value-added candidate projects.
In addition, 22 others, including Kim Seon, Head of Good Neighbors International Headquarters, Gerald Mugabe, Director of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda, and Ernest Kenu, Professor at the Graduate School of Public Health at Ghana University, received 2 medals, 3 plaques, 8 presidential citations, and 9 prime ministerial citations.
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