YU Vice-president Choi Wae-chul holds special lecture on 'Saemaul' for senior public officials in Tanzania
Agreed to cooperate in education and research such as opening the Saemaul Development Research Center in Tanzanian university
[March 16, 2016]
<YU Vice-president Choi Wae-chul holds a special lecture on the Saemaul Undong for senior public officials in Ilemala Municipality, Tanzania>
Interest among emerging countries is rising for the global Saemaul development project being pursued by YU.
Tanzania, an East African country, has recently shown high levels of interest from the government level, and agreed to invite an expert from YU to apply and expand Saemaul development in Tanzania.
International Development Office Director Choi Wae-chul (Vice-president) met with Vice President Samia Hssan Suluhu, National Assembly Floor Leader Job Yustino Ngugai, and Vice Minister of Land and Housing Development Angeline Mabula on the 8th after being invited to Ilemala municipality to agree on plans to apply Korea's Saemaul development strategies in Tanzania.
Vice President Suluhu (photo on left) said, "I am confident that Korea's Saemaul experience will be of great help in the rural, health and education development sectors of Tanzania" and added, "I hope that YU will contribute in strengthening the capacities of Tanzania's public employees and to foster new talents."
National Assembly Floor Leader Ngugai (photo on right) stated, "The National Assembly will also cooperate so that the Saemaul development strategies can take root in Tanzania." In particular, Vice-minister of land and housing development Mabula introduced two rural villages in Ilemala and hoped that this village would be the pilot village for the Saemaul Undong.
Director Choi Wae-chul held a special lecture for 30 people including Ilemala Mayor Renaius Bahebe Mulunha, council members and senior public officials for a total of about 30 people. Director Choi stated, "A reform in the mindset of leaders and community members are the most important thing for the development of a region and country," while stressing, "By taking into reference Korea's development experience and practicing hard work, independence, and cooperation, which are the key spirits of the Saemaul Undong, Tanzania will also be able to develop like Korea."
After listening to Mr. Choi's special lecture, Mayor Mulunha said, "It was refreshing as these were things that I never heard about while working in the development sector until now. I learned that the mindset needs to be changed first for the development of regions and countries. I thought that Tanzania will also be able to develop like Korea through hard work, independency and cooperation, which are the key spirits of the Saemaul Undong, and I got a sense that Korea was even poorer than Tanzania after taking a look at photos of Korea from the past." He added, "As public employees, we felt two responsibilities. The first is to strengthen capacities so that the people can have a spirit of hard work, independence, and cooperation, and the other is to encourage the residents to get on their own two feet."
In the afternoon of this day, Director Choi Wae-chul met with Thadeus Mkamwa (photo on left), president of St. Augustine University, which is a prestigious private university of Tanzania, and discussed plans for cooperation in education and research on the Saemaul development sector. In particular, they agreed to continue discussions on details after coming to a basic agreement on installing a Saemaul Development Research Center at this university.
During his schedule in Tanzania, Director Choi Wae-chul was accompanied by David Mabula of the Tanzania branch (VMPF) of the Global Saemaul Development Network (GSDN), which is an international civic organization joined by over 50 countries. Chairman Mabula completed his course at the YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul and established an NGO in Tanzania called VMPF and has been pursuing the Saemaul development project.
Tanzania is a country with 10 times the land area of Korea, 52 million people, and per capita GDP of 968 dollars (as of 2015), located in the eastern part of Africa, and it is an emerging nation rich in minerals such as gold and having a beautiful natural environment.
