KDI Holds Global Forum on 'Innovation for Development'

Held on the 19th at Lotte Hotel Seoul

Ahn Sang-hoon, Director of the KDI International Development Cooperation Center, is moderating the 'International Development Cooperation Global Forum: Innovation for Development' on the 19th.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The Korea Development Institute (KDI) will hold a global forum on international development cooperation under the theme "Innovation for Development" at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on the 19th. This forum was organized to share Korea's innovation experiences for the innovative growth of developing countries and to discuss the roles and directions of developing country governments.

In his opening remarks, KDI President Choi Jung-pyo stated, "We currently live in a hyper-connected society where problems in specific regions and societies affect the entire world," adding, "Future international development cooperation must go beyond a benevolent relationship between developing and developed countries to jointly solve and overcome challenges and issues faced by the global community."

The forum consisted of a keynote speech and presentations on "Business and Innovation," "Technology and Innovation," and "Urbanization and Innovation," followed by discussions involving experts from international organizations.

In the keynote speech, Lee Su-in, co-founder and CEO of Enuma, emphasized the necessity of technological innovation for creating social value under the theme "People and Innovation." He stressed, "Technological innovation is required to provide inclusive basic education for children in developing countries and those deprived of learning opportunities due to the pandemic, and various global cooperation models need to be established for this purpose."

In the first thematic presentation, "Business and Innovation," Professor Ahn Jun-mo of Sogang University diagnosed that building an ecosystem supporting the advanced growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, the main agents of innovation, is necessary for the stepwise growth of the national innovation system.

In the second presentation on "Technology and Innovation," Hong Sung-chang, Director of the Development Research Office at the KDI International Development Cooperation Center, emphasized that the core of the Fourth Industrial Revolution driving future economic growth is ICT technological innovation leading digital transformation, and that integrated interaction and policy support among actors in the ICT industry innovation ecosystem are essential.

In the final presentation on "Urbanization and Innovation," Park Mi-sun, Research Fellow at the Global Development Cooperation Center of the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, explained that urbanization positively affects economic growth and poverty reduction, and that the urbanization process requires phased development through spatial network access (administrative services and public infrastructure), spatial linkage access (communication and roads), and spatial concentration access (slum resolution and special urban planning).

Meanwhile, the event was hosted by Ahn Sang-hoon, Director of the KDI International Development Cooperation Center, and included discussions with experts from international organizations and research institutions such as R?diger Arend, Head of Economic Analysis, Statistics, and Multilevel Governance at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities; Alessandra Proto, Head of the OECD Trento Centre for Regional Development in Italy; Jaime Prias, Senior Economist at the World Bank; and Lee Sang-geon, Senior Research Fellow at the Global Development Cooperation Center of the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.