The Korea Information & Communication Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) announced on the 13th that it will recruit applicants for the second half of 2019 for the 'World Friends NIPA Advisory Group' for four weeks from August 9 to September 6.

The 'World Friends NIPA Advisory Corps Overseas Dispatch Program' is a project that dispatches retired domestic experts to the governments and public institutions of developing countries (hereinafter referred to as developing countries) to support their economic and industrial development and contribute to strengthening friendly cooperative relations between the two countries.

This project began with the dispatch of 38 members from 18 countries in 2010, the first year of implementation, and 59 members from 19 countries in the first half of 2019, bringing the total number of advisory members to 868 from 45 countries who have been active in various fields.

The recruitment for this advisory group covers a total of 62 positions across five fields, including information and communication, industrial technology, energy resources, trade and investment, and regional development. The selected experts will serve for one year in 22 countries, including Laos, Ecuador, Azerbaijan, and Cameroon.

Eligibility requirements include being a retired (or soon-to-be retired) person aged 50 or older with at least 10 years of practical experience in a field related to the dispatched position and a strong sense of service to developing countries, capable of lecturing, advising, writing reports, and communicating in English or the local language.

Dispatched personnel are provided with local living expenses, including housing costs, activity support expenses, funds for departure and return, airfare, and insurance premiums. The selection process will proceed through document screening, interviews, and physical examinations, and the selected advisory members are scheduled to be dispatched to the recipient country starting this December after completing preliminary training.

In the first half of the year, a total of 108 people applied for 46 positions, resulting in an average competition rate of 2.3 to 1, with the trade and investment sector showing the highest competition rate of 10 to 1.

Kim Tae-yeol, Head of NIPA’s Global ICT Business Division, stated, “Coinciding with the retirement of the experienced Baby Boomer generation, there is an increasing number of middle-aged people who wish to engage in social activities, such as overseas volunteering, after retirement,” adding, “We will actively support outstanding retired personnel with a strong spirit of service and expertise so that they can achieve both self-realization and the development of developing countries.”