Hundreds of African government officials and business leaders are gathering here to attend a variety of events aimed at enhancing ties between Korea and the continent.
The designation of the Korea-Africa Cooperation Week, which continues through Thursday, reflects Seoul’s eagerness to get closer to the resource-rich region with a growing population and market.
About 300 high-level figures from more than 50 African countries have been invited to discuss a broad range of cooperation with their Korean counterparts in a series of forums and conferences during the week.
An industrial forum kicked off the Korea-Africa week Monday, with participants focusing on cooperation in resources, electricity and infrastructure construction. A more comprehensive debate on expanding economic ties is under way at the three-day Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Conference being held through Wednesday.
The third Korea-Africa Forum, which is scheduled to run for three days through Thursday with the attendance of about 150 representatives from 18 African countries, will wrap up the cooperation week. During the forum co-hosted by Seoul’s Foreign Ministry and the African Union, participants are discussing ways to strengthen the bilateral partnership in sessions on development cooperation, trade and security. The forum, which was launched in 2006 when then President Roh Moo-hyun announced Korea’s initiative toward the development of Africa, has since been held every three years.
It is hoped that the flurry of events in Seoul will help enhance mutual interests and understanding between the two sides. Korean officials need to use them to further project the country’s image as a cooperative partner by sharing its development experience with African nations.
Such efforts will lead to forming the favorable conditions for Korean companies’ advancement into the continent that Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan described in his letter of invitation to the forum as “the last growth engine of the world economy” with unlimited growth potential.
The designation of the cooperation week comes in line with Korea’s strengthened efforts toward boosting ties with Africa to cope with active approaches of its competitors including China toward countries in the continent. President Lee Myung-bak paid a visit to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia last year, followed by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik’s trip to Kenya and Mozambique in July.
Trade between Korea and Africa increased from $15.7 billion to $25.1 billion over the past five years, with Korea’s accumulated investment in the continent rising by 80 percent over the same period to $37.2 billion, according to figures from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.
Data from international and regional agencies show that Africa is transforming from a region plagued by colonial legacies, civil wars and autocracy to a continent full of hope for the future. The overall gross domestic product of African nations has expanded by an annual average of 4.8 percent since 2000, the third-highest rate following those for Asia and the Middle East.
Africa’s trade volume increased by 154 percent from $273 billion in 2000 to $693 billion in 2009, with capital flow into the continent rising from $27 billion in 2000 to $126 billion in 2010. Its population is projected to double to 2 billion by 2050, with the number of its middle class consumers also rising sharply, while other continents are likely to see their populations beginning to decline over the coming decades.
Certainly, Africa is still the poorest continent with per capita GDP remaining at $1,681 in 2010. More than half the people in the sub-Saharan nations live on less than $1.25 a day. A lack of infrastructure including electricity, roads and water supply hampers economic activities.
But Africa has more than enough potential to get out of poverty when its resources and natural conditions are fully developed and put to proper use, coupled with the training of its workforce.
Under this circumstance, what African states need most will be a true partnership with countries which can help with their modernization efforts. Korea may be best positioned to extend such assistance by sharing its own development experience with African nations. It will not be helpful either to look at Africans with pity or to attempt to exploit their continent only as a provider of resources.
Korea needs to work out its own specific model for development cooperation tailored to meet the needs of less developed countries in Africa and the rest of the world.
