PNG to get more aid from South Korea

SOUTH Korean development aid to Papua New Guinea is expected to increase next year with more people benefiting from its ongoing training programmes and resource-based projects for economic development.
South Korean ambassador to PNG Won-jung Han announced last Friday that his government would increase its official development assistance (ODA) budget once the country formally joined the development assistance committee of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) next month..
According to Mr Han, this is the last of the 25 OECD panels where South Korea has yet to be represented.
“In keeping with South Korea’s membership in the development assistance committee, my government will increase its ODA budget by almost 20% next year from this year and will plan to continue its increase considerably in the years to come,” Mr Han said during a luncheon meeting organised by the embassy, for Korean International Co-operation Agency (KOICA) Alumni Association in Port Moresby.
Mr Han said he was pleased to see that Republic of Korea and Papua New Guinea enjoy excellent relations in various field fields, including political and economic as well as development and fisheries.
“With the increase in development aid, more people from PNG are expected to benefit from KOICA’s training programme and more grant aid projects will be carried out in PNG,” Mr Han said.