1. The Foreign Ministry, with the support of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), will host in Seoul on October 26 the sixth seminar on the partnership between the Republic of Korea and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) under the theme of “the ROK-SAARC development cooperation on public healthcare.”

2. The SAARC delegation to the forthcoming seminar will be composed of government officials and academics from member states of SAARC as well as members from the SAARC Secretariat. The ROK delegation will consist of public healthcare experts from Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Public Health, the Korea Foundation for International Health Care, and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). In the meeting, the participants will review the current state of public healthcare in South Asian countries and their cases of cooperation with major countries. They will also exchange in-depth views on ways to step up cooperation between the ROK and South Asian countries in the sector.

◦ South Asia is one of the regions with the poorest healthcare and sanitation, as demonstrated by its accounting for 24% of global maternal deaths and 32% of global deaths of children aged 5 years or younger in 2013.

◦ At the 18th SAARC Summit in Nepal in November 2014, public healthcare was chosen as one of the seven priority fields for cooperation. Accordingly, the upcoming seminar on “the ROK-SAARC development cooperation on public healthcare” is expected to help seek out projects through which to bolster substantive cooperation between the ROK and SAARC.

◦ The seminar is also expected to serve as a useful opportunity for the ROK, which built an outstanding public healthcare system over a short period of time and is regarded as an exemplary country in terms of the UN-sought universal health coverage, to share its relevant experiences with South Asian countries.

3. Since joining SAARC as an observer in 2006, the ROK, in an effort to enhance cooperation with SAARC, has held the 1.5-track seminar on its partnership with the organization on an annual basis since 2010. In addition, KOICA has also held special training programs for government officials from SAARC member states in the ROK since 2008.


* unofficial translation