President Yoon Suk Yeol met with visiting World Bank Group President Ajay Banga on Wednesday and vowed to significantly expand South Korea’s official development assistance(ODA). 

During his meeting with Banga at the presidential office, Yoon said South Korea was able to achieve economic development after fighting poverty with help from the international community in the past. He said that now South Korea will work to make contributions to the international community.

While highly assessing the World Bank playing diverse roles to promote developing countries’ economic development and address global challenges, Yoon stressed that it is imperative to establish a free market economy in order to root out corruption and facilitate fair competition led by the private sector. 

In response, Banga said South Korea’s policy direction to expand its ODA is remarkable, adding that South Korea’s experience of emerging from a low-income country that received aid to a high-income nation that provides assistance in just one generation will serve as substantial help to developing countries. 

According to the top office, Yoon and Banga also shared views on ways to cooperate on digital technologies and that the World Bank chief expressed anticipation over South Korean firms taking part in post-war reconstruction projects in Ukraine.