Wednesday 15 August 2012

SOUTH KOREA’S NEXT PROJECT: PUBLIC-PRIVATE AID ALLIANCE

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during the launch of the
Development Alliance of Korea. Photo by: Evan Schneider / UN

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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