South Korea’s state-run Saemaul Undong Organization has agreed to resume financial assistance for rural development projects in Sri Lanka, reaffirming its commitment to international cooperation in grassroots progress.

This announcement was made during the Saemaul Undong Conference held in South Korea on the 19th of this month.

This conference is an international platform focused on rural development that brings together world leaders, ministers, officials and representatives, and this time, representatives from 46 countries of the world participated in this conference.

The conference was attended by Dr. Chandana Abayaratne, Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, and Mr. S. Alokabandara, Secretary of the Ministry, representing Sri Lanka.

The Saemual Undong programme, which began in the 1970s in South Korea, aims to share ideas and experiences with other countries on how it lifted South Korea out of poverty to development.

Addressing the 2025 conference, Minister Chandana Abayaratne highlighted the rural development needs of Sri Lanka and the future vision of the current government. He also participated in several discussions to exchange Sri Lanka's experiences and new ideas with the Korean Samuel Undong organization and with ministers and representatives from various countries.

At this conference, it was agreed to provide financial assistance to Sri Lanka and it was stated that those financial grants could be utilized for rural development projects and also allocated for small-scale rural development programs at the provincial level. The provision of this financial assistance can be considered a resumption of Korean financial assistance, which had come to a halt.

This year's conference mainly focused on the modernization of rural systems, development methodologies based on people's participation, empowerment of the youth and women, economic and cultural rural development projects and sustainable development.