Welcoming Remarks by H.E. Lee Dohoon

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

on the Occasion of 

the 15th Seoul ODA International Conference

September 1, 2022

Dr. Sohn Hyuk-Sang (손혁상), 

The Honorable Mathias Cormann (마티어스 코먼), 

Her Excellency Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana (아르미다 살시아 알리샤바나), 

Dr. Masood Ahmed (마수드 아메드), 

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 

Welcome to the 15th Seoul ODA International Conference. 

Over the past 15 years, the Seoul ODA International Conference has evolved into a major platform where insights on international development cooperation is shared. 

I would like to thank Dr. Sohn and his team of KOICA for their efforts to make this happen. 

Today, complex challenges such as the prolonged global pandemic, conflicts, climate change, worsening food and energy security crises, and the global supply chain disruption have exacerbated inequality both within and across countries. 

Such non-stop crises hits the most vulnerable communities the hardest, which threatens to turn the “Decade of Action” into a “lost decade of development.” 

In 2020, extreme poverty rose for the first time since 1998. In 2022, 190 million people are facing acute food insecurity and 270 million are in need of humanitarian assistance, which is double the figure four years ago. 

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the annual gap in financing for the SDGs increased from 2.5 trillion USD to 3.6 trillion USD. 

Distinguished participants, 

In this era of global crises, the concept of development cooperation is undergoing a major shift from a focus on closing the gap between donor and partner countries to inclusive international cooperation for the resolution of joint global challenges. 

And this calls for a fundamental change in the paradigm of development cooperation as well. 

The international community must unite in solidarity to turn our will into action and counter the nation-centric approach that threatens our shared sustainable future. 

The scale and diversity of the development cooperation community continue to grow. In both the North and the South, civil society, the private sector, and philanthropic organizations have emerged as key players in the field. 

Amidst this trend, emerging donor countries can especially play a key role in creating a new development cooperation paradigm. 

Emerging donors can not only contribute to solving the severe development financing gap but also effectively meet the development cooperation needs of partner countries based on recent development experience and unique expertise. 

Likewise, private sector funding, innovative technology, and the investment potential of both developed and developing countries can contribute to closing the development financing gap, solving the diverse challenges in developing countries and ensuring sustainable growth. 

Distinguished participants, 

With the help of the international community, Korea emerged from the ashes of war in the 1950s to become an economic power house. As a global pivotal state that promotes freedom, peace and prosperity, Korea will leverage this experience to forge global partnerships and work with all stakeholders to achieve the SDGs. 

In this light, Korea has rapidly increased its ODA budget since joining the OECD DAC in 2010 with annual growth rate of average 11% and for the next year, ODA budget has gone up by 14.2%. We will continue to expand ODA to a level commensurate with our global economic standing. 

Distinguished participants, Ladies and gentlemen,  

The challenges facing the international community call for diverse actors to cooperate in innovative ways within the framework of multilateralism. 

It is our sincere hope that as the challenges we face are unprecedented in scale, in response, our solidarity can also evolve to be unprecedented in depth.

Thank you and I wish you all a productive meeting.   /END/