Finance ministry, World Bank co-host Seoul forum for developing countries

The World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. / Korea Times file

By Yi Whan-woo

The Ministry of Economy and Finance co-hosted a forum with the World Bank in Seoul, Wednesday, to discuss their cooperation on innovation and digital technology for developing countries.

The ministry said the two sides assessed ongoing projects under the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF), a joint initiative established in May 2013 with an objective of helping developing member countries of the World Bank achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth, during the Innovation and Digital Entrepreneurship for Development Forum at the Grand Hyatt Seoul.

The ministry said the nascent Yoon Suk-yeol administration will "actively support" target countries through KWPF as well as the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) that Korea launched in 1987 to fund the countries' development.

"Korea's experience with cutting-edge technological solutions and involvement of the private sector is very beneficial to the developing world to help accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals," Dirk Reinermann, the World Bank's director for Trust Funds and Partners Relations, said in his opening speech.

The forum was divided into three sessions joined by panelists from World Bank, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and other Korean officials from the science and startup ministries.

The sessions presented themes of "Bridging the technological divide: firm technology adoption and digital business solutions in developing countries," "Digital skills development for ICT entrepreneurs in developing and fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV)-affected countries" and "Disruptive agriculture technologies and innovation."

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