1. On the sidelines of the High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (hereafter Busan Global Partnership) in Mexico on April 15, Minister Yun Byung-se met bilaterally with leaders in the field of international development cooperation, including the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development of the Netherlands, the European Commissioner for Development, the Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). In the meetings, the two sides discussed key international issues and ways to work together in the field.

[Meeting with Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Lilianne Ploumen of the Netherlands]

2. Minister Yun offered his congratulations to Minister Ploumen on her appointment as a Co-chair of the Busan Global Partnership for next term. He stressed that the role of the Partnership will grow as the post-2015 development regime is about to be established.

° Minister Yu mentioned that as the Busan Global Partnership is newly created mechanism, the role of its Co-chairs is crucial for its expansion and advances, asking Minister Ploumen to exert strong leadership.

3. Minister Ploumen commended the leading role the Republic of Korea has played in the work of the Busan Global Partnership. In her capacity as the Partnership’s Co-chair, she voiced her hope to work closely with the ROK to move the Partnership forward with success and promote the implementation of the commitments made at the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan (HLF-4) in 2011.

[Meeting with European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs]

4. Minister Yun noted that the ROK and the EU have been seeing an increase in bilateral cooperation in a wide range of fields since President Park Geun-hye’s official visit to the EU in October 2013. He added that the two sides are also producing tangible progress in the development sector, as demonstrated by holding bilateral policy consultations on development cooperation and the EU’s participation in piracy eradication projects in northeastern Africa.

5. Commissioner Piebalgs took note of the rapid increase of late in the ROK-EU cooperation in the development sector. He emphasized that in order for the Partnership to establish itself as a significant mechanism, efforts should be made to implement the commitments made at the HLF-4. He added that with regard to a variety of issues that could arise in the course of the implementation, attention and efforts to address them are also called for.

[Meeting with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria]

6. Minister Yun commended the significant role the OECD, as a co-secretariat along with the UN, had played in the preparation of the High-Level Meeting in Mexico. He went on to stress that the Busan Global Partnership should play a pivotal role in establishing the post-2015 international development cooperation regime.

° He spoke of the ROK’s plan to hold an international conference on an annual basis to monitor the progress in the implementation of the HLF-4 commitments and to help the Partnership become an institutionalized mechanism. He asked the OECD to play an active part and extend support in the preparation for these international conferences.

7. Secretary-General Gurria mentioned that it is essential for the Partnership to pay attention to not only the quantity but also the quality of aid. He added that such new aid donors as the ROK as well as emerging economic powerhouses, including China and India, should implement the HLF-4 commitments in a more proactive manner.

[Meeting with USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah]

8. Minister Yun brought attention to the important role of the ROK-US development cooperation in the deepening and expansion of the bilateral alliance into a global one. He raised the need to explore ways to jointly contribute to resolving such issues as poverty eradication in developing countries.

° Minister Yun touched upon the ROK’s implementation of development cooperation as one of its key tasks for ushering in an “era of happiness for the global community,” which is one of the ROK’s three key foreign policy objectives for the year 2014. Speaking about creative economy, one of the incumbent ROK government’s policy tasks, he underscored the need for innovative and creative approaches in development cooperation.

9. Administrator Shah brought attention to the tangible results from the joint cooperation projects in third countries conducted by USAID and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) following the signing of the letter of intent on development cooperation by the ROK and the US governments. He also expressed keen interest in the link between the “era of happiness for the global community” and development cooperation. 


                           Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation