The FINANCIAL — Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao on March 14 met with the President of the Republic of Korea Jae-in Moon. He also met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Dong Yeon Kim, who is Governor for the Republic of Korea in ADB.
During the meetings, Mr. Nakao appreciated the long-term contributions from the Republic of Korea to ADB through capital, trust funds, cofinancing, and knowledge work, and reaffirmed ADB’s strong partnership with the country. He discussed various areas of collaboration to enhance the efficacy of ADB’s development work, while further strengthening knowledge sharing of development experience gained over the past 50 years.
“As a founding member of ADB in 1966, the Republic of Korea has evolved from being one of the largest borrowers to one of the most important contributors to ADB in terms of finance and knowledge,” said Mr. Nakao. “We appreciate the government’s continued strong collaboration with ADB in cofinancing.”
To date, the Korean government has provided $1.6 billion in cofinancing for 17 ADB projects in the areas of skills development, railway, power generation and transmission, urban and rural development, and regional cooperation.
Stressing the growing demand from ADB’s developing member countries to learn more about Korea’s development experience, Mr. Nakao said the Korean government’s Knowledge Sharing Program and e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund have been instrumental in disseminating the country’s valuable development experience. This includes support for various high-level technology systems such as demand and supply side energy efficiency, integrated water resources management, non-revenue water reduction, and smart transport management.
In addition, Mr. Nakao highlighted the work of ADB’s Sector and Thematic Groups to share Korea’s development experience with ADB’s developing member countries through various seminars and workshops, organized in close cooperation with the government, research institutions, the private sector, civil society, and academe.
During the 2-day visit, Mr. Nakao met JongKu Choi, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and Sung-soo Eun, Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of Korea, according to ADB.
Mr. Nakao also gave a lecture at the Yonsei University on “Economic Development and Future of Asia and the role of ADB.”
To date, the Republic of Korea has contributed over $7.6 billion in capital subscription and contributed and committed over $692 million to ADB’s Asian Development Fund. The country has also contributed $50.9 million to ADB’s Technical Assistance Special Fund and $87.2 million to the e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund. In addition, Korea has contributed $7.4 million to the ADB Institute in Tokyo for research and capacity building. Korean companies and consultants have regularly participated in ADB-financed projects, having been awarded around $12.4 billion in procurement contracts. ADB approved loans to the Republic of Korea from 1968 to 1988, amounting to $2.3 billion, and then provided $4 billion in 1997 in support of reforms after the financial crisis.
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