KOICA completes 30 years of its development partnership in Nepal, marks with 29 million USD grant

Kathmandu, Aug 22: The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has completed 30 years of its development partnership in Nepal.     

Marking the occasion, agreements related to three important projects were signed at a special ceremony held here on Friday.     

Accordingly, the first agreement involved a project to be implemented from 2025 to 2030 to establish the Gandaki Technical Institute with a support of nine million US dollars. The agreement was signed by Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Ghanashyam Upadhyay and South Korean Ambassador to Nepal, Park Tae-young.     

Similarly, the second phase of the ‘Fruits and Vegetables Value Chain Development Project’ has been signed. The project which will run from 2025 to 2031 has a budget of 10 million US dollars. The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Dr. Hari Bahadur KC and Country Director of KOICA Nepal, Mooheon Kong.     

Another project to establish the Sudurpaschim Polytechnic Institute has also been signed. The budget of this project which will be implemented from 2025 to 2030 is 10 million US dollars. The agreement was signed by Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Shiva Kumar Sapkota, and Director of KOICA Nepal, Mooheon Kong.     

Since 1991, KOICA has been providing assistance to Nepal in sectors including health, education, agriculture, technical training, rural development, information technology and tourism. So far, KOICA has mobilized 2,921 volunteers in Nepal, while 2,230 Nepali civil servants have participated in capacity building programs in Korea.     

Since prioritizing Nepal in 2010, assistance to Nepal through the South Korean government has increased significantly. By 2025, KOICA's total assistance will exceed 200 million USD.(RSS)