1. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Republic of Korea’s membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) this year, the Ministry of Foreign held the “Commemorating Ceremony of the 2020 Development Cooperation Day and High-Level Talk Concert” in a hybrid format (online and offline) at the Diplomatic Center at 14:00~16:00, November 25. At the event to which development cooperation experts in various sectors including the government, public organizations, civil society, and academia were invited, participants assessed the progress made for the last 10 years since the ROK’s accession to the DAC and discussed the way forward for the ROK’s development cooperation.

2. At the Commemorating Ceremony, people from various fields at home and abroad, including Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha, Chair of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee Song Young-gil, and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, delivered congratulatory messages recognizing the significance of the 10th anniversary of the ROK’s DAC membership.

o Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun stated that major achievements in the ROK’s development cooperation for the last ten years include the doubling of the volume of Official Development Assistance (ODA), contribution to the international community’s COVID-19 response, and the revision of the Framework Act on International Development Cooperation, and commended the ROK’s transformation into a donor.

o Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki stressed that the ROK’s ODA has not only significantly increased in volume for the last ten years but also made substantive contribution to the lives of the people of the developing countries. He also proposed four elements of EDCF -- Effectiveness, Digital, Climate change, and Finance -- as the way forward for the ROK’s development cooperation.

o Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha said that it is the Korean people’s support for the need for development cooperation which made the ROK ODA’s quantitative and qualitative growth possible since the ROK’s accession to the OECD DAC. She also stated that the ROK is willing to create a “people-centered community of peace and prosperity” and an “inclusive community that leaves no one behind,” while sharing the ROK’s experience of development candidly and providing necessary support to the developing countries.

o Chair of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee Song Young-gil noted the ROK’s transformation from one of the poorest countries to a donor as well as the continued expansion of the volume of the ROK’s ODA, and mentioned the need to increase the ODA/GNI ratio, expand support for vulnerable groups, and respond to climate change.

o OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said that the ROK is a leading example of economic growth through healthy economic policies, and highly recognized the contribution of the ROK, as a donor, to international development cooperation, including active participation in discussions on development effectiveness; support for the development of the developing countries through ODA and private funding; and government-wide efforts to tackle COVID-19.

3. At the High-Level Talk Concert held under the theme “the past 10 years and the next 10 years of the ROK’s ODA,” development cooperation experts from various fields discussed the accomplishments in the ROK’s development cooperation for the last 10 years since the ROK’s accession to the DAC; the implications of the changing landscape in development cooperation amid COVID-19 for the ROK; and the direction and vision for the next ten years of the ROK’s development cooperation.

o At the following session chaired by Oh Youngju, President of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, Director-General for Development Cooperation Cho Yeong-moo, Executive Director of the Export-Import Bank of Korea Kim Tae-soo, Vice President of KOICA Park Jae-shin, Professor Jang Hye-young at the Department of Political Science and International Relations of Chung-Ang University, and Director of the Korea NGO Council for Overseas Development Cooperation (KCOC)’s Policy Center Shin Jae Eun discussed the views of the government, the public sector, academia, and civil society on the achievements of the ROK’s development cooperation and its way forward.

4. The event to mark the 2020 Development Cooperation Day served as an opportunity to take stock of the progress in the ROK’s development cooperation for the last ten years and share different opinions of people from various sectors on the way forward.