Donation of 34 sewing machines from KOTRA Manila and Keimyung College University to Sibunag

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) Manila, the Commercial Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines, and Keimyung College University held an online turn-over and inauguration ceremony of 34 sewing machines on August 6, 2021, via Zoom. The online ceremony was co-organized by the Municipality of Sibunag and attended by more than 50 people from the Municipality, Association of Barangay Captains, Women Federation Officers, and ERPAT Federation Officers.

KOTRA, a South Korean government agency promoting trade and investment between the Philippines and Korea, also supports Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Project. Through various types of CSR activities, KOTRA not only creates business opportunities for companies, but also helps to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while contributing to social development, human resource training, environmental improvement, etc.

Captions of Online Turn-over ceremony. Photo credits to Keimyung College University

Hon. Annabelle V. Samaniego, Mayor of Sibunag congratulated this turn over and inauguration ceremony stating “34 sewing machines from Keimyung college university by KOTRA Global CSR project would be of great help in empowering women. Also, this project could provide them livelihood assistance and make them more productive especially during this time of pandemic.”

Keimyung College University was selected as the participating organization for the CSR project of KOTRA last year, but this donation had been postponed due to the pandemic. Instead of dispatching specialists for training session, this university made a tutorial video and allocated budget in order to improve sewing facilities. The President of Keimyung College University, Mr. Seung-ho Park, said “this donation of 34 sewing machines would help Philippine women in terms of technical education and skill development and we will plan to sign sister organization agreement with the Municipality of Sibunag for continuous support.”

Mr. Myongsoo Kim, Director General of KOTRA Manila, added, “Unfortunately, I could not visit Sibunag, Guimaras and attend the ceremony due to ECQ, but I believe that this donation would contribute to skill development and empowerment of the women. Starting from this donation, I hope this will lead to not only exchange of techniques and skills, but also people-to-people exchanges.” As the Heads of KOTRA Manila and Keimyung College University mentioned in the turn-over ceremony, both organizations are planning to visit Sibunag and hold offline training sessions after the pandemic and will discuss more activities for local community.

ADVT