Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on June 26 chairs a meeting of the Committee for International Development Cooperation at Government Complex-Seoul in Seoul’s Jongno-gu District. (Office for Government Policy Coordination under Prime Minister’s Secretariat)
By Xu Aiying
The country’s official development assistance (ODA) next year could reach a record-high KRW 6.8 trillion.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on June 26 announced this at a meeting he chaired of the Committee for International Development Cooperation at Government Complex-Seoul. Under a related comprehensive implementation plan for next year, the committee approved a budget of KRW 6.79 trillion, up KRW 534.3 billion this year, to be reflected in the budget bill requested to the National Assembly.
The larger sum is in line with a policy for the nation to fulfill its responsibility and role as a global pivotal state by continuously expanding the scale of and improving ODA. Next year’s plan for such projects will also focus on global issues such as humanitarian aid and response to the climate crisis.
The overall number of projects was cut from 1,976 to 1,936, but the average amount per venture in bilateral free ODA was raised from KRW 1.88 billion to KRW 2.23 billion to focus on organizing strong projects.
To devise a promotion system to match the larger aid scale, an ODA innovation roadmap will strengthen performance management through innovation of the entire process such as excavation, implementation and evaluation for reflection in the Fourth Basic Plan (2026-30).
“We must play a responsible role in solving international issues such as climate change and natural disasters,” Prime Minister Han said. “We will focus our capacity on projects deemed necessary in ODA recipient states and improve performance through inter-ministerial cooperation.”
The approved plan will be finalized after review by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and deliberation by the National Assembly.
xuaiy@korea.kr
