WTPA will have headquarters in Bogota

In approximately two weeks the World Taekwondo Pan America (WTPA) will open an office where the President and at least nine departments of the institution will have their space, in the Economic District of Bogotá, in Colombia.

MASTKD ESPAÑOL

The information was confirmed by the acting president of WTPA, Helder Navarro on Tuesday.

The Secretary General of WTPA, Rick Shin, who is in Colombia having meetings with the interim president, said: ” Under the WTPA statute, WTPA headquarters must be located in the country President resides. We are currently having discussions at this time about WTPA office establishment and operations in Colombia”.

“In the Colombian capital there will be the office of the president, an assistant secretary, and the departments of: Archives and Statistics, Legal, Technology and Systems; Accounting; Operational Manuals and Procedure Guides; Support for methodological processes; Tournament and Judging Division; Staff Training; and Relations with Subregional Organisms of the Olympic Sport ”, indicated Navarro.

Helder Navarro, who serves as acting president until, the General Assembly in October 2021, expressed that he is aware that his mandate may not be prolonged and that this should not mean concern about the investment that is currently being made.

“The million-dollar question is: what happens if there is a change of administration? There is no problem, because it is precisely our vocation to continue as a foundation. In other words, if the headquarters of the WTPA are moved to another country due to the elections, this office will continue to serve a series of programs that are planned to be developed here around the subject of Taekwondo and its values, its principles; the work with sustainability and with the environment issue and the link with programs of the International Olympic Committee ”, explained Navarro.

For Navarro, the step of opening a physical WTPA headquarters is very important, because it strengthens the institutional figure and formalizes and supports the work that they have been promoting since November 5, when former president Ji Ho Choi resigned.

“I think you have to give an institutional presence. That gives you a lot of image, gives you representativeness, gives you respect. Now, I think that having a headquarters de-individualizes the situation; that means, it gives you a corporate image”, explained the WTPA acting president.

In the new headquarters there will be a room for staff training. In addition, a gallery which is planned to feature various landmarks of Pan American Taekwondo and history in general.

According to the Secretary General, Rick Shin, they also work on the future of the regional entity; meetings where the auditor Raúl Pinzón and the treasurer George Hiristescu are also present, and who are doing everything for the benefit of the continental union.

Rick Shin also highlighted that this approach is very important because new chapters for Taekwondo are being defined.

“We need to unite as a single institution and become a leading Continental Union in the world of Taekwondo, for that our main purpose must be to think first of the communication and the individualized benefit of each MNA’s and its members and thus achieve that unity that we long for”, Shin concluded.

Esteban Mora & Alex Siliezar, MASTKD.com