The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Lee Duk-hoon, “Korea Eximbank”) announced on May 5 that it held the second meeting of the EDCF Advisory Committee at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul.

ODA experts taking part in the first meeting of the Advisory Committee of the year shared their in-depth views on how to support the private sectors of developing nations via EDCF loans.

* The Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) was established by the Korean government in 1987 to promote economic exchanges with the developing world and to assist developing countries in achieving industrialization and economic stability through the provision of long-term, low-interest credit. Korea Eximbank currently manages the fund as its trustee.

Responding to growing public interest in official development assistance (ODA), the EDCF Advisory Committee, composed of ten experts from relevant agencies, was launched in November last year by Korea Eximbank as a venue for soliciting a broad range of opinions on ODA from various constituencies in order to better inform policy-making.

Korea Eximbank Chairman Lee Duk-hoon remarked at the meeting, “EDCF must widen its area of support to cover the private sector, both as a way of enhancing the effectiveness of development cooperation as well as facilitating the entry overseas of Korean companies. This would mark a step beyond the traditional government-to-government model of ODA to one that involves more direct support to the private sector.”

Handong University Vice President Choi Do-seong noted that while EDCF was correct to target the private sector, “it would need to develop the individual and organizational capacity to handle the different set of challenges that entail the financing of private sector development, such as risk management.”