열린장관실

(As of Sept. 23)

Remarks
by
H.E. Mr. Kim Sung-Hwan
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
of the Republic of Korea

at

the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Development
(Finance Ministers’ and Development Ministers’ Meeting)

23 September 2011
WashingtonD.C., United States

H.E. Mr. Francois Baroin(프랑수아바루앵), Minister of Finance,
H.E. Mr. Henry de Raincouert(앙리드랭쿠르), Minister for Cooperation,
Excellencies and Distinguished Participants,

(Introduction)

It is my great pleasure to join you at this special gathering of G20 Finance and Development Ministers. I would like to thank the Government of France for organizing this important meeting. Indeed, this is the first time that Ministers have met on development issues prior to a G20 Summit.

(Development in the G20 Context)

It has been almost one year since the Leaders of the G20 adopted the Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth and its Multi-Year Action Plan on Development. I have no doubt that all G20 members have earnestly implemented the Multi-Year Action Plan in cooperation with international organizations under the leadership of the French Presidency. The progress and recommendations of the Development Working Group presented by Co-Chair, are hard evidence for this. In this sense, I am confident that the G20 Cannes Summit will continue the legacy of G20’s work on development.

Before discussing specific deliverables in the priority areas such as infrastructure and food security, I would like to remind you of the starting point of the G20 development process, keeping in mind that our original aim, as our Leaders set out, should continue to guide us in moving forward.
 
So why did we, G20 members, put development on the G20 agenda? The answer is simple: development is vital to achieving the G20’s key objective of “strong, sustainable and balanced growth.”  Without shared growth, we will lose developing countries as a potential engine for global growth, therefore ultimately undermining our prosperity.

Also, the legitimacy of the G20 as the premier forum for global economic cooperation depends largely on how much the G20 can reflect and embrace the needs and concerns of developing countries. We are well aware that the G20’s collective action does not work well without the support of non-G20 countries. In this inter-connected world, the economic growth of developing countries is our common interest.

So development issues matter to the G20. It is in this context that the G20 placed development firmly on the G20 agenda. If we failed to translate our commitment to the G20 development agenda into concrete actions, the credibility and legitimacy of the G20 would be seriously undermined.

In this regard, I would like to reiterate the significance of the Seoul Development Consensus. And I strongly urge all G20 member countries to continue to render political support for the Consensus and its full implementation, in particular.

(Progress under the French Presidency)

Distinguished Participants,
 
When designing the G20 development agenda, we strived to embrace a differentiated and complementary approach with a special emphasis on addressing bottlenecks to the self-sustained growth of developing countries. This means that the G20 development agenda is not a pledging plan, but problem-solving actions and strategies.

The focus of this year’s action plan is analyzing problems and providing effective diagnoses and strategies. This is important since the outcome of this identification stage will be a good basis for solving real problems. In this sense, I note with satisfaction that the report of the G20 Development Working Group, which will be submitted to the Leaders, includes invaluable proposals and recommendations based on in-depth analysis on development bottlenecks.

(Future of the G20 Development Agenda)

Yet, this is just the beginning of our journey. This year’s outcome is one significant step toward our collective efforts for development. Now it is the time to take a leap toward a problem-solving stage and to make a real change.

Some express concerns that the momentum for development is likely to be weakened. I do not agree with them. Indeed, development issues matter more than ever.  Recently we’ve been facing the multiple global challenges such as the dire situations in the Horn of Africa, the economic woes in Europe and the United States, climate change, fragility and conflicts in many parts of the world, which require our further collective actions. To reiterate, the global recovery in a sustainable way largely depends on development and we should make further commitment to tackle these challenges through putting our promise of G20 development agenda into practice. That is why next year’s step for creating an enabling environment for development is more significant than this year’s.

In this context, we need to keep the momentum and take the steps to address development bottlenecks, building on the excellent progress and outcomes we have made this year. I am confident that Mexico, the next year’s G20 Presidency, will wisely and effectively lead us on the way with its own refined priority areas and strong leadership.

(Conclusion)

Taking this opportunity, I would like to assure that the Republic of Korea will exert continued efforts along with other G20 member countries. In particular, as the host of Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan late this year, Korea will focus on strengthening synergies between the two fora, the G20 and the Busan Forum. Taking place three weeks after the Cannes G20 Summit, the Busan Forum will draw lessons from the G20’s strategic approach to development and provide a new ‘Global Development Partnership on Development Effectiveness’, supporting the successful implementation of the G20 development agenda.

Distinguished Participants,

The G20 has proven its effectiveness in dealing with the global economic crisis through an unprecedented level of policy coordination. I believe that the same can be done for development. All of us need to continue to seek for strong, sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth and that is why we are here to reaffirm our commitment to G20 development agenda.

I would now like to conclude my remarks by wishing the G20 Development Working Group every success in laying a cornerstone for the overall credibility of G20. I am confident that today’s Ministerial Meeting will provide most valuable inputs for the future implementation of G20 development agenda and reassure that our strong commitment to shared growth will continue as promised. Thank you. /End/