Vietnam named first importer of Korean development model

(ATTN: INSERTS 2nd para to highlight signing of a deal between Korea and Vietnam
next month; UPDATES with more details, minor changes)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, March 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will share its experience in
industrialization and economic development with Vietnam, making the Southeast
Asian country the first importer of the South Korean-style development model, a
presidential body said Tuesday.
A South Korean delegation of some 15 officials will visit Vietnam next month to
sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on providing economic consultations to
the Vietnamese government over the next three years, an official from the
Presidential Council on Nation Branding told Yonhap News Agency.
The move comes as part of Seoul's efforts to improve its image in the
international community by increasing its assistance to developing nations.
"What I fear the most is that we could become a country or people who are not
respected by the rest of the world even after our per capita income reaches
$30,000 or $40,000," President Lee Myung-bak was quoted as saying at a council
meeting held earlier Tuesday.
Under the new assistance program called "Shaping the Future with Korea," Vietnam
will receive consultations on a wide range of issues from macro-economic policies
to systems integration, according to the council.
The Southeast Asian nation has been in a pilot program since 2004, under which
Seoul helped establish Vietnam's development bank based on its own model, Shim
Joon-ho, an official from the strategy and finance ministry, said.
"Under the MOU, we will provide free consultations on the creation or
establishment of any government systems or organizations," he said, adding the
deal will be signed with Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment.
"There are many countries that wish to learn from Korea's experience of economic
development," Park Hyung-joon, senior aide to the president for public affairs,
told reporters.
"It will be a program that will help developing nations benefit from contracted
development by sharing our experience, knowledge and information as President Lee
Myung-bak has noted in his New Asia Initiative," he added.
The New Asia Initiative is Seoul's new diplomatic policy that places greater
importance on its relations with Asian nations.
The development assistance program will be extended next year to four other
nations in the region, including Nepal and Uzbekistan, and further expanded the
following year to include any willing country from around the world, the council
said.
"The Ministry of Strategy and Finance, together with other related offices, will
create a chance to start a 'Korean economic wave' by providing our overall
experience of economic development to developing nations that require strategic
economic cooperation," the council said in its report.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)