The Korea Institute for Development Strategy (KDS) successfully conducted the Economic Development Capacity Building Program for Gabonese Government Officials in December, 2014.
The Program was sponsored by the African Development Bank (AfDB) utilizing the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Trust Fund contributed by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) of the Republic of Korea through the Korea Exim Bank in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Francophonie and Regional Integration of Gabonese Republic.
The KDS implemented two training courses for economic development capacity building of the Gabonese government officials: One course for seven senior government officials at the director government level or deputy director general level during the period of Dec 8 –16, 2014 and The other course for eight Gabonese economic counselors stationed or to be stationed at the Gabonese embassy around the world from Nov. 25 – Dec. 2, 2014.
□ Main objectives
The main objectives of the Program were as follows;
- To provide participants with the opportunity to share and evaluate Korea’s economic development strategies as well as Korea’s experiences in Economic Development and Industrial diversification, Fiscal Policy and Budget Planning & Management, Private Sector development, Public-Private Partnership.
- To equip the participants with the skilled, knowledge and know-how in the areas of Investment Promotion, Analysis on Economy and Capacity Building for Diplomat.
□ Scope of the Program
The two training Courses were organized and conducted to meet the needs of the Government of Gabon. The Program focused on extensive knowledge on Korea’s development experience, examination of current development agendas of Gabon and introducing best practices and application of policy based on the topics requested by the Gabonese Government.
□ Training Methodology
The KDS consulted with MFA to gauge the detailed expectations of prospective participants in view of the objectives of the training module and refined the initial Need Assessment. These pre-training consultations were used by the KDS to assess the current state of the country vis-à-vis the area of the course and gain a better understanding of the current situations.
Based on the findings, the KDS developed the detailed training curriculum and materials of the module, based both on the critical needs identified by MFA and meeting the established international standards in training.
Training modules were demand driven, tailor made, focused, fast tracked, and less theoretical than experience based. The training curriculum employed best practices, workshop and case studies which are highly relevant and practical to capacity building of Gabonese government officials for the economic development of Gabon.
The training program consisted of: lectures on topics focusing on Korea’s Experience; workshops including case studies and discussions; study visits related to lectures and workshops; action plan building and presentation; cultural experience in Seoul.
