BY HAILE DEMEKE
ADDIS ABABA – Ministry of Finance (MoF) of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Republic of Korea represented by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a grant agreement of 20 million USD.
The agreement was signed by MoF State Minister Semereta Sewasew and KOICA Ethiopia Office Country Director Lee Byunghwa.
The MoU would put into effect with the objective of setting the framework for the implementation of KOICA’s 2022 grant programmes, which will further contribute towards achieving Ethiopia’s development endeavors on the basis of the ten years prospective plan and SDGs.
As per KOICA Ethiopia Office’s newly established country Plan for its ODA support in Ethiopia, KOICA will start off for undertake the two projects support from 2022 onwards with a total budget of 20 million USD.
Accordingly, the first one is project for “Enhancing the competitiveness of Leather and Leather products sector SMEs in Ethiopia” for four years 2022-2025 with a total budget $USD10, 000,000. This project has an objective of establishing a well-developed leather-sector-specialized Business Innovation Center with full- fledged support services to emerging and existing SMEs.
Similarly strengthening Leather and Leather Products (LLP) Industry Ecosystem by establishing development plan and sector policy analysis, strengthening technical Capacities for LLP industry is another objective of the project.
It will also work closely with SMEs in the sector by establishing market linkage and improving their export performance. The project is also expected to mitigate the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the sector by creating sustainable jobs in leather industry.
KOICA also noted that the “Community-Led Solution for Inclusive Socio-Economic Resilience towards Sustainable Peace in Conflict-Affected Areas in Ethiopia” for four years 2022-2025 with a total budget of no more than ten million USD is the second project .
The objective of this project is to contribute to social cohesion and economic resilience of displacement-affected communities IDPs, host-communities, returning IDPs, local authorities through area-based and community-based peace building and recovery processes and increased access to sustainable livelihoods. The project will be implemented in Oromia and Somali states.
KOICA Ethiopia Office would also like to use this opportunity to reiterate, starting from 2021 the Office has launched its new strategic document called “Country Plan” that will shape the trajectory of the office in the coming five years. The country plan (CP) is the most significant strategic document of KOICA, which includes the four major programs or priority sectors for allocating ODA budget for the upcoming years. It is prepared based on comprehensive analysis of the priorities of Ethiopian government namely on the basis of 10 years Prospective Plan and Korean Government’s comparative advantage.
The CP will focus mainly on the underneath four priority thematic areas; manufacturing for future prosperity, health for Better Life, green economy for future generation, and inclusion for Sustainable Peace.
The March 9/2022
