About BKCF

About Cooperation

Name

  • BKCF, BIMP-EAGA-ROK Cooperation Fund

Background

  • The Korean government announced its plan for a subregional approach to ROK-maritime Southeast Asian Cooperation during the ROK-ASEAN Summit in November 2020.

Goals

  • In partnership with BIMP-EAGA which was established to narrow the development gap in the maritime Southeast Asia, Korean government aims to contribute to the inclusive and balanced growth of Southeast Asia.

Current Cooperation

  • The Korean government formalized the BIMP-EAGA-ROK Cooperation at the 1st Senior Officials’ Meeting in October 2021 and signed TOR and MOU with BIMP-EAGA. Given the high demand from the four countries of maritime Southeast Asia for climate action, GGGI(Global Green Grwoth Institute), an international organization with expertise in the field of green growth was selected as the depository for the BKCF.

Future plans

  • President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to double the budget of BIMP-EAGA-ROK Cooperation Fund by 2027.

    ※ 2021 -$ 1 million → 2022, 23 - $ 3 million ⇨ plan to double the budget by 2027- $ 6 million

Recognition from BIMP-EAGA

  • We will continue to strengthen our cooperation with BIMP-EAGA by scaling up the budget of the BKCF and discussing the way forward with ROK-BIMP-EAGA Cooperation at the annual Senior Officials’ Meeting.

    • Year 2021
      • “We appreciate the initiative of the Republic of Korea to deepen engagement and expand BIMP-EAGA cooperation.” (28 October 2021 BIMP-EAGA Leaders Summit Joint Statement)
      • “My sincere appreciation to the Government of the Republic of Korea for its initial commitment to the BKCF.” (Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte)
    • Year 2022
      • “We appreciate the support from the Republic of Korea with the establishment of the BKCF, under which ten projects have been approved. Inspired by this recent development, we will pursue collective efforts in optimising our engagement with development partners especially at the project-level.” (26 November 2022 BIMP-EAGA Ministerial Meeting Joint Statement)
    • Year 2023
      • “We welcome the BIMP-EAGA-Korea Cooperation Fund (BKCF) and the increase of the Republic of Korea’s contribution from USD 1M in 2021 to USD 3M in 2022. The Philippines, in particular, continues to benefit from the BKCF from projects in the Environment, Tourism, and Connectivity Sectors worth approximately USD 1,276,587.24 million in total.” (11 May 2023 Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.)
      • “The leaders welcome the positive progress on collaboration with Development Partners particularly with the Republic of Korea, which to date has approved 10 projects amounting to US $3.5 million.” (11 May 2023 PM of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim - Media Statement by Ministry of Foreign Affairs )
      • “We appreciate the support from the Republic of Korea for the establishment of the BIMP-EAGA-ROK Cooperation Fund (BKCF) which recently provided funding support for 10 projects in connectivity, environment, tourism, and agriculture.” (11 May 20223 BIMP-EAGA Leaders Summit Joint Statement)

Eligibility

  • Government agencies, public sector institutes, academic and research institutes, NGOs, private sector entities or any other autonomous institutes from member countries of BIMP-EAGA and the ROK are eligible to submit funding requests.

    ※ Individuals are not eligible to apply for the fund.

BKCF Project Duration and Budget

  • (Duration) The BKCF welcomes proposals for one year or two years. This is a performance-based funding. The second-year amount for awarded two-year projects will be approved based on the satisfactory performance of the first year.

  • (Budget) BKCF accepts proposals for a one year grant for a minimum of USD 100,000 and a maximum of USD 500,000. The total amount for a two-year grant proposal will be between USD 200,000 and USD 500,000. In the case of multiple countries or BIMP-EAGA regional projects, maximum of USD 250,000 per country could be allowed.

Priority Areas

  • Among the list of sectors from the Vision 2025, prioritization was given to the environment, connectivity, tourism, and agriculture and fisheries.

BKCF Project Process

  • Submission of Proposal

    The proponent shall submit the proposal and required documents to bkcf@gggi.org with the subject of [Submission] Project Title.

  • GGGI Review and Shortlisting

    The GGGI Review Committee will review and conduct a screening of proposals for shortlisting.

  • Review of BIMP-EAGA National Secretariat and the ROK

    GGGI will prepare the project shortlist and a consolidated project proposal report including an overview of the project purpose, cooperation sector/area, expected outcomes and outputs and send them to BIMP-EAGA National Secretariat and the ROK to evaluate the shortlist.

  • Approval of the BIMP-EAGA and the ROK

    When the proposed project shortlisting is approved by BIMP-EAGA countries and the ROK during the Senior Official’s Meeting, ROK will send an official letter to GGGI with the list of approved projects. GGGI will officially inform and arrange bilateral meetings with selected proponents to brief them on the project preparatory work and contract signing.

Application form

Submission of BKCF Project Proposal

  • Institutions and organizations wishing to participate in the Call for Proposals are requested to complete the Project Proposal form in English in the attachment and submit it to the Fund’s depositary, GGGI(bkcf@gggi.org) by deadline each year.

  • When preparing BKCF project proposal, you will find it helpful to refer to the ‘Guideline for writing an effective BKCF proposal’ posted on GGGI’s website.