On December 14, NIA President, Seang-Tae Kim welcomed the Director of Transport & ICT Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Mr. Gilbert MBesherubusa to NIA for discussions following the signing

of an Aide Memoire on a Joint Consultation Program for 2012.



NIA President Kim met with Mr. MBesherubusa in his office and mentioned that he hoped that the planned cooperation between NIA and AfDB || chr(39) || || chr(39) || || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s regional member countries would prove to be both fruitful and beneficial as Korea helps Africa in the area of ICT and e-government.



While visiting Korea, Mr. Mbesherubusa and Mr. Enock Yonazi, Principal Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Engineer not only held discussions with the NIA President Dr. Seang Tae Kim, but also with other NIA staff members and management such as; Mr. Jeongwon Yoon, Director, Mr. Young Min Ko, Principal Manager and Ms. Mina Son, Senior Manager of the Global Planning & Consulting Department and Mr. Sung Nam Choi, Principal Manager and Ms. Seung Mi Hong, Senior Manager of the Global e-Competency Development Center. In addition, during their stay in Korea, they also held discussions with the officials of Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS) including the General Director, Mr. Myung Woo Cho,

Informatization Planning Bureau and the Director Mr. Im Chul Ryu, Informatization Planning & Coordination Division and other Ministry officers. There were also visits by the mission to various Korean institutions included Seoul Transport Operation and Information Service, SK Telecom, National Computing & Information Agency and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).


The Aide Memoire that was signed by Mr. Mbesherubusa and Jeongwon Yoon, Director of the Global Planning and Consulting Department spelled out the areas that NIA would assist in the AfDB || chr(39) || || chr(39) || || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s support in Africa, including ICT Training in e-Government, undertaking AfDB-NIA ICT joint studies in six of AfDB || chr(39) || || chr(39) || || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s regional member countries. In order to strengthen the collaboration mechanism, a MOU would be signed in the near future as well as the establishment of a joint AfDB/NIA Implementation Committee to follow up on the implementation of the agreed activities. This Committee will be composed of 6 experts (AfDB: Transport & ICT, EADI and Mobilization & Partnership Unit; from Korea: Informatization Planning & Coordination Division, MOPAS and Global Planning & Consulting Department and Global e-Competency Development Center, NIA.

In conclusion, considering that Informatization constitutes an important factor of national development and regional integration AfDB and NIA are convinced that cooperation and collaboration between the two institutions

would further define common objectives in a way beneficial to AfDB || chr(39) || || chr(39) || || chr(39) || || chr(39) || s regional member countries.