The Korea International Cooperation Agency(KOICA) on Tuesday held a workshop in Vientiane to review the progress of the Korea Overseas Volunteers(KOVs) programme.

The event was attended by 24 participants from partner organizations such as schools, the provincial planning and investment department, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment(MPI).

KOICA Resident Representative Sung Choon Ki said the cooperation between the two countries in the areas of health and hygiene rural development, education and ICT was important and Korea had a lot to offer due to its own development experience.

Mr Sung said the KOV programme had distributed a questionnaire to partner organizations throughout Laos. Thirty-five of the 40 participating organizations replied. with 94 percent saying the program was an effective tool in tackling development challenges in local communities.

Director General of Mittaphab Hospital, Dr Vanliem Bouaravong, said "We are really satisfied with the volunteers who are working or have worked at the hospital. We would like to have more volunteers, especially in our priority fields of neurosurgery. traumatology and nephrology"

Meeting participants discussed ways to promote the efficiency of individual volunteer activities and the dispatching process in cooperation with KOICA, the Korea Embassy and the MPI.

Mr Kouthong Sommala, from the MPI's Department of International Cooperation, also explained the process of application to the volunteer program.

Since 2001, a total of 170 KOVs have been dispatched to Laos in 10 provinces.

At present, 60 volunteers including four doctors and five seniors are working in 40 organizations. KOICA allocated a budget of US$10 million to Laos this year for cooperation projects including the KOV program.