South Korea and the African Union are jointly holding the Korea Africa Economic Cooperation Conference in Seoul from Oct. 15-18, bringing 150 ministers and heads of 18 African nations and international organizations.
The South Korean foreign ministry says, “Africa is the last growth engine of the world economy, which has unlimited growth potential,” Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said in a letter of invitation. “This forum is expected to provide a good opportunity (for South Korea) to strengthen ties with Africa.”
The conference remains the biggest event co-organized between Africa and Korea.
The theme of this year’s conference focuses on “inclusive and green growth,” and the program will include the ministerial roundtable, bilateral meetings of ministers, economic cooperation seminars, African countries’ investor relation activities, and one-on-one business meetings.
AfDB Senior Management and Executive Directors from Regional Member Countries will attend all the conference activities.
The conference outcomes are expected to increase inclusive economic growth of African countries through the application of Korea’s development approaches.
It will also knowledge on inclusive growth in sectors such as human resource development, infrastructure, energy, information technology, agriculture and green growth; and to enhance political and economic cooperation between Africa and Korea through increased trade, investment and dialogue.
The partnership between the African Development Bank Group and the Republic of Korea began in 1980, when Korea joined the African Development Fund (ADF) in 1980 and the African Development Bank (AfDB) in 1982.
In 2009, Korea provided a temporary AfDB capital increase of US $306.1 million and supported in 2010 the historic General Capital Increase (GCI) VI of 200 per cent and ADF-XII replenishment amounts of UA 53.86 million (KRW 94.77 billion) representing an increase of 66 per cent from its ADF-XI contribution.
At the recently concluded ADF-12 Mid Term Review in Cape Verde, Korea played an active role in the discussions and highlighted the Bank’s focus on energy and natural resources, including the role of PPPs in infrastructure development.
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