Background

The Republic of China (Taiwan) sent its first agricultural mission to Vietnam in 1959, when Taiwan was itself still a developing country. In 1961, under Operation Vanguard, technical missions were dispatched to boost agricultural production in many newly independent African nations. In 1962, the Operation Vanguard task force was expanded to become the Sino-Africa Technical Cooperation Committee (SATCC); and then in 1972, the SATCC was incorporated into the Committee of International Technical Cooperation (CITC). This organization was given overall responsibility for organizing and managing Taiwan's overseas technical cooperation, and for assisting partner nations to develop their agricultural sectors.

Simultaneously, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth. In 1989, the government established the International Economic Cooperation Development Fund (IECDF) to oversee economic assistance to developing partners.

As the variety of cooperative development projects expanded yet further and the number of overseas technical missions increased, the government dissolved the IECDF in 1996, and established an independent organization: the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF). The following year, the CITC was incorporated into the TaiwanICDF.

Organization Discription

The highest decision-making body at the TaiwanICDF is the Board of Directors, whose Chairman and members are appointed by the Executive Yuan. The Secretary General is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization, and is assisted by the Deputy Secretary General.

The organizational structure of the TaiwanICDF comprises five departments and seven offices: the Humanitarian Assistance Department, Technical Cooperation Department, International Education and Training Department, Lending and Investment Department, and General Management Department; and the Accounting Office, Auditing Office, Financial Affairs Office, Legal Affairs Office, Information Technology Office, Personnel Office, and Public Relations Office.

As of December 31, 2009, the organization comprised 92 domestic personnel and 225 overseas experts. Additionally, there were 56 active members of the TaiwanICDF Overseas Volunteers, and 99 servicemen enrolled in the Taiwan Youth Overseas Service.

Funding and Aid

The TaiwanICDF's fund balances (the Fund) come predominantly from its founding fund, donated fund and accumulated earnings. As of December 31, 2009, the Fund had a net balance of NT$15.6 billion.

TaiwanICDF foreign aid operations are presently focused on the following: (1) the Fund is used to engage in lending, investment and credit guarantee activities for development projects, in addition to financing the provision of technical assistance (including consultancy services, capacity building, research, the operation of the TaiwanICDF Overseas Volunteers service, international human resource development programs, and humanitarian assistance); (2) the Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissions the TaiwanICDF to manage its overseas technical and medical missions (including associated work relating to agriculture, aquaculture, public health and medicine, economics, trade and industrial service), and to oversee the operation of the Taiwan Youth Overseas Service.