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Ⅰ. Introduction
II. Key Outcomes
III. Implications for Korea’s Development Cooperation Diplomacy
Ⅰ. Introduction
The United Nations (hereafter, the UN) hosted the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (hereafter, LDC5) on March 5-9, 2023 in Doha, Qatar. The UN has convened a global conference to galvanize international support for the socio-economic development of the least developed countries (hereafter, LDCs) every decade, with the first-ever conference held in Paris, France in 1981. Although the LDC5 was scheduled to take place in 2021, it was delayed by a year due to COVID-19. The first part of the LDC5, which took place in New York in March 2022, adopted the Doha Programme of Action (hereafter, DPoA). The main conference in Doha was the second part of the LDC5.
The second part of the LDC5 aimed for the following: First, identify actions and partnerships for effective delivery of the DPoA; Second, undertake a comprehensive appraisal of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (hereafter, IPoA) for 2011-2020; Third, mobilize additional international support for the LDCs; and fourth, agree on a renewed partnership between the LDCs and donor countries and agencies. The LDC5 is comprised of opening and closing ceremonies, as well as general debate and 8 parallel high-level thematic roundtables. The thematic roundtables centered around human capital, science, technology and innovation (STI), structural transformation, international trade and regional integration, climate change, pandemic and resilience, resource mobilization and global partnership, and sustainable graduation from the LDC list.
In addition to the heads of state, many representatives from developing countries, development partners, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, academia, and young professionals participated in the LDC5. Second Vice Minister Lee, Dohoon participated as the country representative of the Republic of Korea (hereafter, Korea) to express Korea’s support for and solidarity with the LDCs and their efforts at promoting sustainable development.
II. Key Outcomes
1. Effective Implementation of the DPoA
LDC5 participants, including the LDCs and donors, tracked the implementation of the IPoA, stressed the importance of delivering on DPoA, and sought to mobilize international support for the LDCs.
First, despite the decade-long progress made through the IPoA, the key goals of enabling half the number of the LDCs to meet the graduation criteria, achieving sustained, equitable and inclusive economic growth of at least 7 percent per annum, eradicating poverty and structurally transforming the economies, and doubling the share of the LDCs’ exports in global exports by 2020 were not fully met. The number of the LDCs was 48 in 2011, and in 2021, 46 countries still remain on the UN’s LDCs list. Only a handful of countries, including the Maldives, Samoa, Equatorial Guinea and Vanuatu graduated from the LDCs in 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020 respectively. However, South Sudan was added to the LDCs list in 2012. The participants also highlighted that LDCs are more vulnerable to global health, climate change, debt, food and energy security crises and that the pandemic reversed some of the progress made on Sustainable Development Goals (hereafter, SDGs).
The DPoA provides six key focus areas with relevant targets and commitments. The six focus areas are a) investing in people, eradicating poverty and building capacity, b) leveraging the power of STI, c) supporting structural transformation as a driver of prosperity, d) enhancing international trade and regional integration, e) tackling climate change, COVID19 and building resilience, and f) mobilizing international partnerships for sustainable graduation. Qatar, the host of the LDC5, announced its contribution of US$60 million for the successful implementation of DPoA and expressed its willingness to host the mid-term review conference.
2. The Need for Multi-level, Multi-dimensional and Inclusive Support for the LDCs
At the conference, participants discussed the challenges and support measures for the LDCs. Notable were the discussions on supporting the LDCs at global, national, and local levels; supporting development cooperation, trade, and investment; addressing multiple challenges across health, climate change, infrastructure, STI, digitalization, urbanization, etc; and paying particular attention to vulnerable groups including women, children, and those with disabilities.
First, the LDCs called for reforms in the global governance system, including the international financial system, trade system, and multilateral development banks. Reforms for a more equitable, inclusive and balanced global trade and financial system would enable the LDCs to better access global finance, and be further integrated into global value chains, improve debt sustainability, and mobilize necessary resources on time. UN Secretary-General António Guterres reinforced the arguments of the LDCs by stating that the global financial system, designed by wealthy countries to serve their interests, is extremely unfair to the LDCs. However, only a few developed countries, such as France and Slovenia, mentioned the need to improve the current global financial system, exposing discrepancies between developed and developing countries on the matter. In addition, the LDCs emphasized that global support should be based on the LDCs’ ownership, align with partner countries’ national development plans, and fit local contexts. This implies the need for the international community to provide assistance to the LDCS at global, regional, national and local levels.
Second, a comprehensive set of support measures for the LDCs, specifically development cooperation, trade and investment, were discussed. Participants discussed ways to leverage development cooperation to foster a business-friendly environment, enhance trade capacity, and build relevant infrastructure. DPoA also aims to significantly increase aid to facilitate trade in the LDCs, which is expected to double between 2018 and 2031. This signals that development cooperation is increasingly being linked to economic issues such as trade and investment.
Furthermore, an in-depth discussion on multiple crises that LDCs face, including pandemic recovery, climate change response, the digital divide and poverty eradication, took place through high-level thematic roundtables. Korea participated in the thematic roundtable session on pandemic and resilience. Korea shared the lessons the country learned from the pandemic, such as the importance of capacity building, social protection and global partnership, and shared its plans to become a responsible donor. Korea has already provided around $460 million in humanitarian assistance and global health aid to support the capacity building of around 40 LDCs since 2020, contributed $300 million and $100 million respectively to the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and established the WHO global biomanufacturing training hub in Korea in 2022.
Lastly, countries at the conference shed light on the world’s vulnerable groups, including youth, women and children. Multiple representatives reiterated the need to invest in youth development, gender equality and women’s empowerment to achieve sustainable development that leaves no one behind. DPoA also proposes specific targets and actions to reach out to these vulnerable populations.
3. Development Finance and ODA Centrality
The discussions at the conference on development finance for delivering on DPoA touched on future efforts at continued support of official development assistance (hereafter, ODA), mobilization of traditional and new forms of development finance, mobilizing domestic and international resources, and procuring public and private finance. Follow-up efforts would require the participation of various stakeholders including traditional donors, emerging actors and the private sector, and efforts at cultivating an environment for effective development cooperation through ODA and capacity building.
The types of development finance mentioned were extensive, ranging from ODA, foreign direct investment, private investment, blended finance, concessional and non-concessional loans, domestic resource mobilization, remittance, to trade. There was a collective acknowledgment from both developed and developing countries on the need to mobilize additional public and private, domestic and international financial resources in addition to ODA to successfully reach the SDGs. Also mentioned were the means of implementation such as promoting public-private partnerships, boosting private investments, and facilitating the growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries. In addition to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members, contributions from the non-DAC donors via South-South and triangular cooperation were also noted.
Simultaneously underscored was the vital role of ODA, a traditional form of development finance. The LDCs urged donor countries to reach the commitment of providing 0.15%-0.2% ODA/GNI to the LDCs, noting that the same target was and is included in both IPoA and DPoA. Director Árnadóttir of the OECD Development Centre explained the significance of ODA, which represents around 60% of external financing to the LDCs. The need for technical assistance to build capacity for the development of diverse sectors, including health, climate, entrepreneurship, urbanization, and infrastructure, as well as the increase of development effectiveness was also accentuated.
Some developing countries voiced concern over the recent decline in ODA and other forms of development finance upon graduation from the LDC list. For instance, the representative of Tuvalu mentioned its plan to defer graduation beyond December 2024 as well as the country’s concern over the decrease of concessional finance and aid upon graduation. Sri Lanka, an LDC graduate, shared the experience of having to borrow loans that were of high-interest rate and unsustainable from international markets and suggested the need for cheap capital for infrastructure and human capital development of the LDCs.
In response to such demands, donors, including Korea, described their contributions and pledges to support the LDCs. For instance, Luxembourg and Denmark emphasized that they reached the target of providing 0.2% ODA/GNI to the LDCs. Germany also mentioned that it provided 0.15% ODA/GNI to the LDCs in 2020. Spain stated that it enacted a law on international development cooperation in February 2023 to allocate 0.7% ODA/GNI by 2030 and 10% of foreign aid as humanitarian assistance. Romania also shared its decision to increase the annual allocation of its foreign ministry’s ODA budget to Africa from 14.5% in 2021 to 17% in 2022-2025. Korea shared its will and determination to continuously increase ODA volume to reach the world’s top ten levels, provide assistance that meets the specific contexts of each LDC, pursue mutually beneficial cooperation in linkage with its Indo-Pacific Strategy, Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative, and Development Cooperation Strategy with Africa, and strengthen partnerships with countries in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.
Such discussions indicate that not only do all parties have a mutual understanding to mobilize additional development finance that can complement ODA, whose volume is rather limited, but that ODA will continue to play a central role in sustainable development and graduation of the LDCs.
III. Implications for Korea’s Development Cooperation Diplomacy
The LDC5 conference provides significant implications for Korea’s development cooperation diplomacy in defining its position as a global pivotal state and advanced donor. Also, 10 out of 27 priority partner countries of Korea’s ODA are the LDCs.
First, the importance of development cooperation diplomacy based on a comprehensive and whole-of-government approach was reaffirmed. The scope of the agenda in supporting the LDCs has expanded with development cooperation being more strongly linked with the issues of trade and investment. Moreover, the range of development finance also increased to include grants, concessional loans, debt relief, blended finance, etc. This implies that Korea should craft a more detailed and comprehensive approach to developing countries. Furthermore, Korea needs to deepen efforts to advance and sophisticate whole-of-government cooperation by sector. For instance, the issues on digitalization cover a wide range of areas - access to electricity, infrastructure development, digital literacy, research and development, e-government, and digital mainstreaming in socio-economic sectors. And since the digital sector tops Korea’s priority list in its development cooperation, enhanced cooperation across the government will increase impact.
Second, bilateral and multilateral development cooperation diplomacy should be actively pursued. Korea declared its commitment to helping the LDCs reach the SDGs at the conference. Thus, it should elevate its development cooperation with the LDCs through bilateral relations and multilateral diplomacy at the international organizations including the UN.
Third, forging stronger cooperation with domestic and international development cooperation actors is needed. The LDC5 strongly encouraged the participation of developed countries’ private sector, economic activities of developing country businesses, and partnerships with local organizations. Thus, Korea needs to deepen its cooperation with domestic and international public and private players. In addition, Korea should also actively pursue triangular cooperation with emerging donors such as Vietnam and Indonesia, who mentioned its South-South cooperation that complements the traditional North-South cooperation. This would also help enhance both the volume and effectiveness of Korea’s contributions to developing countries.
Therefore, it is advised that Korea, as a responsible member of the international community, actively promote strategic and advanced international development cooperation to effectively and efficiently support the sustainable development of the LDCs, better contribute to global affairs, and carry out its role as a global pivotal state.
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