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U.N. Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon during the launch of the
Development Alliance
of Korea. Photo by: Evan Schneider / UN
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South Korea appears keen to continue
raising its profile within the international development community. This time,
the Asian country has tapped the private sector to help its cause.
On Aug. 13, the emerging donor
launched a public-private partnership dubbed the Development Alliance of Korea.
It comprises eight initial members, namely the Korea
International Cooperation Agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Trade, U.N. Academic Impact Korea, Global Compact Network Korea, Korea
Association of International Development and Cooperation, Korean Council for
University Education, Federation of Korean Industries, and Korea NGO Council of
Overseas Cooperation.
The alliance seeks to combine the
expertise of the country’s government, businesses, universities and civil
society organizations with efforts to eradicate poverty in developing
countries. These partners are expected to create more public-private networks,
expand the exchange of information and implement joint development projects.
In addition to members collaborating
among themselves, the alliance will work with multinational organizations such
as the United Nations. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is a former
South Korea foreign minister, was in fact present at the launch as part of his
four-day visit to the country.
Public-private partnerships focused on
aid and development like this alliance are nothing new to the development
community. But it is interesting to see what innovation the emerging donor
could contribute not only to the development community but also to the PPP
model itself.
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