"Not long ago, in 1960, Ghana was more developed than South Korea," the AfDB gro up president said at a media briefing here organised on the sidelines of the ministerial conference for Economic Cooperation between South Korea and Africa (KOAFEC).
"Korea's per capita income has raised from US$ 100 in 1960 to US$ 16,000 in 2007. This is an outstanding achievement which illustrates the great leap forward taken by Korea, a country with no natural resources," he added.
Although Kaberuka is not saying that everything should be copied from the Korean example, he insisted that there were various areas in which Africans could learn from Korea.
This is particularly true as regards the interrelations between the public and p rivate sectors, which have allowed the country to register outstanding results in the fields of industry, technological innovations and agriculture.
On the issue of the global financial crisis, the AfDB president spoke of his wis h not to see European countries use the instrument of protectionism as a way out of their difficult situation.
He said he was concerned about the global recession which was threatening to have a considerable impact on Africa.
Africa would then experience a slowing down in its flow of exports and a reducti on in investments and transfers.
Kaberuka stressed that the global food crisis and the soaring oil prices already had major repercussions on African economies.
To deal with the crisis, the AfDB president suggested that stringent measures sh ould be taken to cushion the effects of the global financial crisis, indicating that with a growth rate below seven per cent, Africa would not be in a position to fulfil its commitment to realise the Millennium Developm ent Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015.
Participants in the four-day event, which began Tuesday, will focus on the theme "Promoting synergies between Africa and Korea" in order to foster the two regions' economic development through the identification, development and financing of projects aimed at maximising synergies between the two parties.
Seoul - 28/10/2008
Pana
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