S. Korea to host ODA forum in 2011

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea was selected Tuesday to host a major
international conference on development aid in 2011, receiving a boost to its
campaign for a greater global role, the foreign ministry said.
The 4th High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, co-organized by the OECD and the
World Bank, is expected to draw more than 2,000 participants from about 150
nations, many of whom are heads of state and minister-level officials, the
ministry added.
"The conference is the world's largest and highest-level meeting in the
development aid sector that reflects the international community's common
understanding on the effective assistance to accomplish the U.N.'s Millennium
Development Goal," it said in a press release. The event is held every three
years.
The OECD chose South Korea as the host in a consensus among member nations at a
meeting in Paris.
In the Seoul conference, scheduled for October 2011, the international society
will reaffirm its will to promote development aid after overcoming the current
financial crisis and discuss new international rules aimed at bolstering the
initiative, the ministry said.
South Korea received a total of US$12.7 billion from other nations in official
development assistance (ODA) until 1999, struggling in the early years to rise
from the aftermath of the 1950-53 Korean War. Seoul transformed itself into a
benefactor in 2000.
The volume of Seoul's ODA soared 14 percent in 2008 on a yearly basis to US$797,
according to data released by the OECD earlier in the day. It accounts for 0.09
percent of the country's gross national income. Seoul intends to increase the
ratio to 0.15 percent by 2012 and 0.25 percent by 2015.
It also plans to join the Development Assistance Committee by 2010. The committee
has 23 members, including the European Commission, and is the only OECD committee
of which South Korea is not yet a member.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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