Son Hyuksang, KOICA President, "Leading the Green New Deal ODA Initiative"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Son Hyuk-sang, President of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), stated, “We will proactively lead the Green New Deal development cooperation projects (ODA) and actively discover projects to respond to climate change.”

At the KOICA 30th anniversary press conference on the 30th, President Son said about the key tasks to be promoted in the future, “We will focus on Green New Deal ODA, Digital ODA, and an integrated approach to projects.” KOICA was established in 1991 under the ‘Korea International Cooperation Agency Act.’

Regarding the background of making the Green New Deal a core task, President Son explained, “Major donor countries including the European Union (EU) and the United States have made how to recover and grow through green initiatives the core theme of development aid after the COVID-19 pandemic,” adding, “Climate change and carbon neutrality are no longer optional.”

He added, “In 2022 and 2023, we are discussing how to promote projects centered on carbon reduction, e-mobility, and e-smart cities in the New Southern and New Northern regions.”

President Son also emphasized the importance of digital transformation. He expressed his ambition to focus on digital transformation, saying, “It is impossible to build a foundation for sustainable growth and development of developing countries in the 21st century without resolving the core issue of ‘digital divide’ in development cooperation projects.”

President Son argued that ODA competitiveness must be strengthened in the international community.

He said, “The scale of our country’s ODA ranks 15th in the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and in terms of scale, we cannot compete with countries like the United States, China, Japan, and Germany. Competitiveness arises not from simply transplanting the development experiences of specific countries or regions but from effectively improving the quality of projects through an integrated approach. We are preparing educational programs and personnel system improvements for this purpose.”

Regarding the ‘ABC Project,’ a COVID-19 resilience enhancement program, President Son said, “The core of the ABC project is material support, focusing on providing diagnostic kits, negative pressure equipment, and personal protective equipment for quarantine,” adding, “It is not just about emergency relief material support but ultimately aims to strengthen the infectious disease response system of partner countries.”

Meanwhile, regarding cooperation projects with Myanmar, where a military coup occurred, President Son stated, “Since the early stages of the Myanmar situation, we have been holding emergency countermeasure meetings and carefully monitoring the situation while closely consulting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” adding, “There are about 7 to 8 projects, but direct project consultations with senior Myanmar government officials have been suspended.”

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