1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se and Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Suh Seoung-hwan signed a memorandum of understanding between their two Ministries in order to vitalize projects for international development cooperation at the Foreign Ministry on July 30. Under the MOU, the two sides agreed to cooperate to minimize the segmentation of official development assistance (ODA) affairs and improve the aid effectiveness by using their expertise.

2. The MOU has been concluded:

° As the role of the ODA of the Republic of Korea in the international community has been expanding since the country’s accession to the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2010 and its hosting of the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) in Busan in 2011.

° As the two Ministries share the view that road and other forms of transport infrastructure should be built in developing countries to facilitate their sustainable growth.

° For the two Ministries to improve the ROK’s aid effectiveness through cooperation on international development cooperation projects and, in the mid- to long-term, to create an environment allowing them to indirectly contribute to Korean construction companies’ entry into markets of developing countries.

3. At the MOU-signing ceremony, Foreign Minister Yun noted that as exemplified by the significant role of the construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway and the Soyang River Dam in the modernization and the economic development of the ROK, the construction of infrastructure is essential for sustainable development of developing countries. He called for extensive and deep cooperation between the two Ministries on ODA affairs.

4. The Foreign Ministry had concluded MOUs on international development cooperation with the Ministry of Security and Public Administration in August 2011 and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in October 2012, respectively.

5. Under the MOU, various cooperation projects are expected to be conducted to support developing countries’ bids to build transport infrastructure. Such projects will include: producing development cooperation contents, building relevant databases and providing advice; inviting government officials of developing countries to educational programs in the ROK; supporting their development jointly with the private sector and cultivating experts.

                           Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation