South Korea helps Myanmar launch rural development projects

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) of South Korea is helping Myanmar launch two rural development projects in a bid to improve the rural people's socio- economic status, a semi-official media reported Wednesday.
The projects cover the establishment of the Myanmar Development Institute to boost the capacity and efficiency of local people, and the launching of Saemaul Undong, which is a new village or community movement designed to reduce the poverty gap between the rural and urban areas.
South Korea has so far helped renovate two Myanmar villages and 100 more are being planned at a cost of 22 million U.S. dollars, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.
The five-year Saemaul Undong aid project (2015-19) covers some 100 villages in Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon, Tanintharyi, Ayeyawaddy, Mandalay, Sagaing regions and Shan state.
According to official statistics, South Korean investment in Myanmar amounted to 3.087 billion dollars in 96 projects as of September 2014, accounting for 6.19 percent of the total foreign input and ranking the sixth in Myanmar's foreign investment line- up.
Bilateral trade between Myanmar and South Korea reached 1.569 billion U.S. dollars in the 2013-14 fiscal year, of which Myanmar' s export to South Korea accounted for 352.92 million dollars while its import from the East Asian country stood at 1.217 billion dollars.