South Korea selects Lanka to implement Saemaul village
South Korea has selected Sri Lanka to implement its Saemaul village
development programme from 2012.
Korea's International Administrative Development Center Director
General Kim Won Jin and Korean ambassador in Sri Lanka Jong Moon Choi
met Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa to discuss the details
of this programme at the ministry recently.
Kim Won Jin said that the Korean government has selected two
countries, Sri Lanka and Myanmar to implement this programme from this
year.
Saemaul is a combined word from Sae and Maul. Sae in Korean means new
or refreshed and Maul means a village which is the basic unit of a
community. In other words, Saemaul means a movement to make the local
community better and also a village rehabilitated by the efforts of its
residents.
"Development should be carried out by the community as a whole and
the benefits should be enjoyed by the entire community. This is the
basic concept of Saemaul Undong movement," said Kim Won Jin.
The Korean government initiated Saemaul Undong to develop
underprivileged and underdeveloped rural villages of Korea on April 22,
1970. The government proposed and executed 10 major projects for
improving rural areas. These include expanding and straightening
villages' inner roads, providing roofs and fences, installing laundry
facilities, developing community wells, building bridges and improving
water systems.
An environment improvement project was followed by an income
increasing project. New farm roads were built and high yield varieties
of rice was supplied to increase productivity. As a result, the rural
output reached to a self - sufficient level in staple grains in 1974.
"The key factor behind such remarkable success was that all the projects
were operated based on community collaboration, the spirit of Saemaul
Undong," said Kim Won Jin.
Saemaul Undong is a mental reform movement to raise the "can do"
spirit and finally practice by themselves. Based on the three core
values of diligence, self help and cooperation, Saemaul Undong develops
and transforms a community as well as a nation through the villages' own
efforts and cooperation. Korea has become a wealthy country thanks to
Saemaul Undong, Kim Won Jin added.
Many developing countries are asking for the techniques of Korea's
Saemaul Undong to eradicate poverty and Saemaul Undong has spread across
the world as Korea's new international cooperation model, he said.
Minister Basil Rajapaksa said the development policy of the
government is mainly based on rural development and poverty alleviation.
"Sri Lanka initiated the Gama Neguma - village uplifting programme in
2005 aiming to develop infrastructure, livelihood, environment and
capacity of the rural people. Eighty percent of the population of Sri
Lanka live in rural areas. We plan to develop rural areas with all
facilities such as education, transport, water, electricity,
communication. Then we can avoid unnecessary urbanization experienced in
the development process of western countries," the minister said. He
said, Divi Neguma national development project is another initiative of
the government to improve the income, nutrition and healthy food habits
and foods security of rural people. Both programmes, Gama Neguma and
Divi Neguma, have been implemented successfully and a large contribution
came from these projects for the country's economic growth.
"The government will implement these programmes continuously making
adjustments when necessary. Experience and learning from similar
projects will help Sri Lanka to make such adjustments. Therefore, Sri
Lanka will closely watch and study the Korean experience to adopt them
in Sri Lanka's development drive," the minister said.
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