World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said Tuesday South Korean companies should set their sights on developing countries in Africa for new business opportunities as well as for shared growth.
Kim, who is on his second visit to South Korea since taking up the post in July last year, said Africa is more than a region in need of aid but a new business partner.
"One of the things I've learned -- (and) it is truly one of the most important lessons for me -- is the importance of the private sector in all development efforts," Kim said in his luncheon address here to a meeting called "World Bank Group and Korea: A Dynamic Partnership in New Frontiers - Africa."
"Korea is one of the countries that benefited tremendously from foreign assistance," Kim said, noting that South Korea is the only member state of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee that transformed from being an aid receiver to a donor.
"But if you look at the world today, all official development assistance combined is about US$125 billion," Kim said.
"(However,) Africa alone requires $100 billion every year, just for its own infrastructure," he added, emphasizing the importance of well-off countries lending support to growth in developing nations.
Kim said South Korea owes the world gratitude and that there are many ways for Asia's fourth-largest economy to pay it back, including exploring possibilities in developing countries.
"What becomes clear is, if we want countries to have the same experience that Korea has had, going from one of the most poorest countries in the world to now being the 14th largest economy in the world, the private sector will have to play a critically important role."
Concerning North Korea, Kim said the World Bank is willing to lend support to the mutual development of two Koreas if conditions allow.
"Everyone on this peninsula must understand there has to be some political breakthrough. We know there are nuclear questions and there are many issues on the table. But once there is a political opening, organizations like the World Bank and all of our partners are ready to move right away."
"Right now, North Korea is not a member of the World Bank Group," Kim said. "The path toward unification would be longer than what happened in Germany ... but in my own sense, many countries will step up, because peace in the peninsula is important for everybody."
Born in Seoul in 1959, Kim emigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was 5 years old.
He was sworn in as the president of the World Bank and its sister organizations in July 2012 for a five-year term, becoming the first Asian-American to lead the institution.
"My great hope, thinking about my role at the president of the World Bank Group, (is) that because of Korea, every country in the world has hopes. This is the message which I take wherever I go."
Around 100 economic officials from home and abroad as well as nine ambassadors from African countries also attended Tuesday's meeting.
Kim's three-day trip from Tuesday is intended to open a new World Bank office in Songdo, 56 kilometers southwest of Seoul, discuss South Korea's growing role in global development and promote investment opportunities for Korean companies in Africa.
"Korea is playing an increasingly active role in global development issues, and I'm hopeful that the new office will help us expand the collaboration between the World Bank Group and the Korean government and Korean businesses," Kim said at a news conference following the luncheon.
According to the bank, South Korea's overseas development assistance has increased six-fold in the last decade, from under $200 million in 2000 to $1.3 billion tallied in 2011. Seoul plans to more than double that amount to $3 billion by 2015.
"I am very proud that Korea, even in this difficult economic times, has committed to increase rather than decrease foreign assistance," he told reporters.
"As you know, I am leading the World Bank Group with a new strategy that aims to end extreme poverty by 2030 and promote shared prosperity, which means making sure that income grow for the bottom 40 percent of the population in every country," he added.
"During my visit, I hope to discuss how better we can work together to accelerate our work to end poverty and build shared prosperity."
