[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Lee Tae-ho, the 2nd Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, attended the 52nd OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) High Level Meeting held via video conference over two days from the 9th to the 10th as the chief representative, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
The meeting was attended by over 180 participants including ministers and vice ministers from DAC member countries, international organizations, civil society, and corporate representatives. The meeting discussed implementation plans for △ sustainable development financing △ better green recovery △ better development cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the era of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
On the 10th, Vice Minister Lee delivered a keynote speech in the ‘Better Green Recovery’ session, presenting promotion plans for the sustainable recovery of developing countries affected by COVID-19 and explaining the Korean government’s efforts to support the international community’s COVID-19 response. Vice Minister Lee proposed partnerships that respect the capacity and ownership of developing countries according to the principles of the Sustainable Development Goals, climate change response, and the Busan Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC), promoting technology and innovation to adapt to the changing development cooperation landscape caused by COVID-19 in an eco-friendly and resilient manner for a ‘Better Green Recovery.’
Furthermore, Vice Minister Lee introduced Korea’s efforts to support the international community’s COVID-19 response, including △ contributions of approximately $510 million in ODA (Official Development Assistance) △ sharing COVID-19 response experiences △ pledges to contribute to the COVAX AMC for equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and expressed Korea’s commitment to contributing to the international community’s eco-friendly recovery and achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals through initiatives such as the ‘Korean New Deal’ and the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 as the host country of the 2021 P4G Summit.
Member countries adopted a statement as the outcome document of this high-level meeting, reaffirming that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which has become more challenging due to the spread of COVID-19, is DAC’s top priority, and presented DAC’s contribution plans in three areas: immediate support for developing countries’ COVID-19 response, better green recovery measures, and development effectiveness.
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