Korean oceanic and marine technologies will be provided to countries, such as Tuvalu, Fiji, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, that face difficulties related to oceans and coasts, including the threat of tsunami.

The Yeosu Project is an initiative put forward by the Korean Government during its campaign to attract the 2012 Expo to Yeosu. It is an international cooperation project with a total investment of 10 billion won up to 2012.

For the first-year program, the Organizing Committee received a total of 109 proposals from major coastal countries in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, of which 12 projects were singled out.

Phase one of the training programme will be conducted for more than 50 ocean-related officials and experts from five countries. The two-week programme will consist of lectures, on-site training and study tours at the Korea Institute of Construction Technology Education, the Korea Ocean and Fisheries Institute and the Overseas Fishery Cooperation Centre.

Through the Yeosu Project, the Organizing Committee plans to help developing countries secure quantitative improvements in ocean-related fields and promote Expo 2012.

It is the first time in the history of Expos that the organisers have accompanied the Declaration which will be pronounced at the end of the Expo by a concrete example of its implementation, the Yeosu Project.

(Source: EXPO Yeosu official website - www.expo2012.or.kr)