1. The Foreign Ministry, together with the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), will host an international conference on the G20 development agenda in Seoul on December 4.

2. At the G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, in November, President Park Geun-hye proposed development be discussed as one of the main agenda items at the 2015 G20 Summit in Turkey. The forthcoming conference has been organized to help the G20 Summit in Turkey seek out development agenda and produce other tangible results.

◦ The meeting will bring together relevant government officials from G20 member states, including Germany, Australia, Indonesia, the South African Republic and Turkey; and such international organizations as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank (WB); as well as civilian experts in the field.

3. At the meeting, Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Ahn Chong-ghee of the Foreign Ministry will deliver opening remarks, followed by discussions among the participants on development effectiveness, the G20 development agenda, the G20’s role in raising development fund, ways for the G20 to contribute to the UN development agenda, and ways to implement the development agenda to be set at the 2015 G20 Summit in Turkey.

4. The Republic of Korea, building upon its successful development experience, led the adoption of the “Seoul Development Consensus” and the “Multi-Year Action Plan on Development” at the G20 Summit in 2010, playing a role in stepping up G20 discussions on development. The ROK also played a leading role in the G20 discussions on development by serving as a co-coordinator in the field of the development of human resources and investment in infrastructure in the course of preparing for the G20 Summit held in Australia, and by concluding a memorandum of understanding on the development of human resources with the International Labour Organization (ILO).

5. The upcoming international conference is expected to serve as an opportunity for the ROK to further bolster its leadership it has exercised in the past G20 discussions on development and contribute to discussions on the topic at the 2015 G20 Summit in Turkey. 


                     Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation