The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) yet again has generously bestowed applicants from 21 countries with the chance to be a part of the MPP program at the KDI School. The incoming 2010 KOICA students are a diversified mix of thirty participants from: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia, Congo, Cote d’lvoire, East Timor, Egypt, Fiji Islands, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam, & Yemen. 98% of the participants are government officials, with a variety of educational and professional backgrounds.

Under their motto of “making a better world together,” KOICA tries to maximize the effectiveness of Korea''s grant aid programs for developing countries by implementing the government''s grant aid and technical cooperation programs. Due to the continuously changing trends in development assistance efforts and practices, KOICA is striving to adapt to these changes by using its limited financial resources effectively in areas where Korea has a comparative advantage. In particular, Korea has the unique experience of developing from one of the poorest countries in the world to one of the most economically advanced. The “know-how gained from this experience” is an invaluable asset that helps KOICA to efficiently support the sustainable socio-economic development of its partner countries; this manifested in a program like the MPP program offered by the KDI School and supported by KOICA.

Given this about KOICA, the KOICA students, each in their own country, were presented with the MPP scholarship offer through existing cooperation between their work institutes and KOICA. Supported and recommended by their employers, they are pursuing this master’s degree in order to benefit from the Korean experience and knowledge. Consequently, upon return, this acquired knowledge can be implemented on ground in an optimistic try to help their countries follow track, and one day transform into developed countries as well.

By Mona Bargooti (2010 MPP, Palestine)