외교부

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           Your Excellencies Ambassador Schoeman of the Republic of South Africa and Ambassador Bourzaim of the Kingdom of Morocco, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen,

 

           It is indeed a great honor and pleasure for me to welcome all of you to the “OECD Seminar on African Economic Outlook in Seoul.” On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I would like to thank the two co-sponsors of this important seminar, KIEP and the OECD Development Center, for their full support and cooperation.

 

           My special thanks also go to Mr. Andrea Goldstein and Mr. Nicolas Pinaud, representatives from the OECD Development Center, for having traveled a long way from Paris to be here with us today.

 

           Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

 

           Over the past several decades, the African continent has remained a land afflicted with poverty, diseases, natural disasters and civil wars. However, today we can witness noticeable changes in Africa. According to the OECD’s annual publication, ‘African Economic Outlook’, the economic activities in Africa are estimated to have risen by nearly 5.5 percent in 2006, and are expected to remain high at 5.9 percent and 5.7 percent in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

           I fully agree with Professor Jeffrey Sachs that the essence to development in Africa is building up partnerships, not only between the public and the private sector, but also between the international community and the countries in the region. Fortunately, in terms of financing, great strides have been made recently by Africa and countries in other parts of the world to put African development into action.

 

           At Gleneagles in July 2005, the Group of Eight (G8) leaders made further commitments to scaling up financing for the Millennium Development Goals, specifically in Africa. An extra $25 billion in donor financing by 2010 was pledged for sub-Saharan Africa alone. On top of this, the debt of 20 highly indebted poor countries was fully cancelled.

 

           Korea, for its part, is firmly committed to the cause of African development. In Abudja, Nigeria in March 2006, President Roh unveiled a blueprint embodying Korea’s plan to comprehensively assist, and cooperate with, Africa, that is called “Korea’s Initiative for Africa’s Development.” Under this initiative, Korea is committed to tripling the size of its ODA to Africa by the year 2008, providing support in terms of securing medicine and promoting public health, developing human resources, sharing IT technologies, and expanding two-way trade and investment between Korea and Africa. The Korean government reconfirmed this plan at the ‘Korea-Africa Forum’ held in Seoul on November 8^th of last year.

 

           As such, Africa is no longer a remote continent to the Korean people. We are actively participating in the international efforts to help Africa pursue sustainable development. And, further stepping up these efforts, we have recently enacted a law  introducing an ‘air ticket solidarity levy’ which will be attached to each and every airline ticket departing from Korea as of the end of this September. By this levy, we can generate a new source of financing to help the least developed countries especially in Africa pursue their own development strategies to attain the UN Millennium Development Goals.

 

           In addition to such government assistance, we are making strenuous efforts to create a business-friendly environment that can help Korean businesses strengthen partnerships with their counterparts in Africa.

 

           In this regard, I appreciate the valuable joint work of the OECD and the African Development Bank Group in publishing the new edition of African Economic Outlook for this year. This book provides us with highly useful information on the current economic situations of African countries and their future prospects.

 

           Today’s seminar will also contribute to broadening the basis of international cooperation for African development. It will enlighten us on policy implications for our outreach efforts for promoting the cause of development in Africa. The Korean government’s commitment to playing its due part in these collective efforts of the international community is also reaffirmed by hosting this important event.

 

           I sincerely hope that today’s seminar will serve as a valuable opportunity to enhance the public awareness of the importance the international community attaches to African development and build an even stronger partnership between Korea and Africa in the years to come.

 

           Thank you very much.