외교부

Excellencies,

Distinguished guests and Ladies and Gentleman,

It is my great honor and privilege to pronounce the opening of the conference, commemorating the 10^th Anniversary of Korea’s accession to the OECD.

I would like to begin by offering my sincerest gratitude to the Honorable Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of the OECD, for his attending this conference and to extend warmest welcome to every participant joining this very meaningful gathering.

(Korea’s Accession to OECD)

This year marks the 10^th Anniversary of Korea’s accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A proverb in Korea states, “Ten years is an epoch.” I believe this proverb accurately represents the rapid changes of Korea’s economy since its membership to the OECD.

Since its inception in 1961, the OECD has greatly contributed to the shaping of the world economic order. It should be noted too that the OECD, while playing a leading role in facilitating the continued economic growth of the member countries, has spared no efforts in coordinating international aid policies as a good partner to the developing countries.

After joining the OECD and especially after having recovered from the unprecedented financial crisis that occurred in 1997, Korea has made good strides in improving its socio-economic structure to reach the level of advanced countries by embracing global standards of the market economy.

We have adopted various recommendations and policy advices suggested by the OECD concerning regulatory reform, public governance, liberalization of capital movement, environments and education. Those were very useful and effective for us to build capacity in addressing many new challenges we faced in the process of development.

As a result, Korea’s GDP increased to $788 billion in 2005, reaching the level of the world’s tenth largest economy. Also the volume of trade, which has been an engine for the Korea’s economic growth, has been almost doubled during the period.

At this juncture, the first theme of today’s conference, “Korea, Then, Now and the Future”, seems quite relevant agenda to be discussed for both Korea and the OECD, as we now move forward in preparing for another decade of mutual benefits and cooperation.

(The Challenge of Globalization)

I would like to note that during this conference, participants are supposed to discuss on the issue of globalization which has many facets.

The waves of globalization, a catchword of our times, represent market integration and economic cooperation of global dimension. It could act as a powerful tool to raise economic well-being of all people indeed.

However, all policy makers, both public and private, must be careful as many believes that there exists some hidden pitfalls, such as increasing polarization of wealth and income among groups of people. The OECD and Korea should stand ready to squarely address these issues and overcome the dark side of globalization.

On this point, I would emphasize that the OECD, a renowned think-tank of the global economy, should play a key role in responding to policy demands arising from every corners of the globe.

I hope that during the session, discussions will focus on the ways to relieve polarization by sharing benefits of globalization, while at the same time, ensuring continued economic vitality of the society.

(Development Cooperation)

    I am also pleased to note that Korea, a recipient of development assistance until the end of 1980s, has transformed itself to one of the emerging donors. Foreign assistance over $15 billion that we received has been used as the precious input for economic take-off and highly instrumental in building infrastructure necessary for continued development. On this account, Korea believes it a duty to appropriately return the favor it once received to the international community.

           The Korean Government has been faithfully honoring its international commitments. As announced at the World Summit commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the UN last year, we will double our ODA by 2009 and further triple it to around 3 billion US dollars by 2015. In addition, we are now taking the necessary steps to introduce an air-ticket solidarity levy, as an innovative source of funding for development. Albeit modest in size, it will nevertheless be our firm commitment to help developing countries to eradicate poverty and combat disease.

           With increased resources, we will actively join the international efforts to assist the developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. In particular, through our “African Development Initiative,” we will triple our development assistance to African countries, which to our regret, consist almost two thirds of the LDCs, by 2008.

           Along with such efforts to up-scale the ODA volume, we are also trying to upgrade our ODA activities to provide substantive assistance for the developing world.

           In this regard, it is my firm belief that Korea’s experiences could be well shared with the developing partners. The human resource development through education and investment in human capital, have been the nutshell of Korea’s development strategy. We would like to share such experiences with other Least Developed Countries and Middle Income Countries who made endeavors to get on the right track of economic development. In the meantime, Korea continues to prepare for a membership of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD by around 2010.

(Closing Remark)

         The Honorable Angel Gurria and distinguished guests,

I would like to once again thank all of you present here today for your participation in this meeting. I firmly believe that with your invaluable contribution, this conference will be most successful, thus making all the participants from the public, business and private sectors as well, pleasant and rewarding.

Thank you.

(제2차관 /2006.9.22/롯데호텔 사파이어룸/국제경제국 경제기구과)