03 August 2016— The Philippine delegation to the Joint Capacity Development Program-Green Economic Development paid a courtesy visit on Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Raul S. Hernandez at the Philippine Embassy in Seoul on July 20.
The Joint Capacity Development Program-Green Economic Development is jointly organized by the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) and Germany’s international cooperation agencies.
The delegation of 20 is composed of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) officials, Filipino businessmen, and Manila-based officials from Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. They were in ROK as part of the Promotion of Green Economic Development (ProGED) program.
GIZ, which stands for “German Corporation for International Cooperation” in English, is an international cooperation company owned by the German government to promote sustainable development in more than 130 countries.
The ProGED program was established by GIZ to address the growing concern among Philippine micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) on the effects of climate change. ProGED aims to introduce the concept of a green economy.ProGED is jointly undertaken in the Philippines by the DTI and GIZ based on the mutual recognition of the strong link between the green economy development path and enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises in the private sector.
During the visit, the delegation briefed Ambassador Hernandez on the program, their itinerary in ROK, and the various beneficiary projects all over the Philippines. The meeting also discussed how Philippine MSMEs can build a viable, successful, and sustainable business model by incorporating green technology and practices.
The delegation also touched on how Philippine MSMEs can become more disaster-resilient, be competitive in the global and regional markets, and what services the Philippine Embassy in Seoul can extend to help the program participants.
The visit was undertaken in coordination with the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). It afforded the delegation the opportunity to learn the best practices of ROK in green economic development.
KOICA is a development aid agency of the Republic of Korea, which was established in 1991. KOICA’s mission is to reduce poverty, promote living standards and help realize sustainable, equitable and inclusive development in developing countries.
The delegates learned about the multi-levelpolicy framework underpinning ROK’s green economy. They witnessed the different province-driven local initiatives for Green Economy in the country.
The program enabled the participants to understand the integral role of the industrial and business sectors, and academic or research institutions in pursuing the green technology development and eco-innovation in ROK. The program also allowed the participants to recognize the importance of Renewable Energy and the actual status of its promotion in the country.
More importantly, the program provided the participants a chance to establish critical networks, as well as an opportunity to identify prospective business opportunities between ROK and the Philippines in the fields of green technology and MSMEs. END
