The Ministry of Economy and Finance revised the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on knowledge sharing with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the first time in nine years and expanded the scope of cooperation to reflect new demands such as artificial intelligence (AI).
On the 18th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that it had revised the existing memorandum of understanding in conjunction with the 34th EBRD Annual General Meeting held in London, England, from the 14th to the 15th. Director General Moon Ji-sung, representing Korea, signed the amendment with Mark Bowman, Vice President of Policy and Partnership at EBRD.
The Korea-EBRD knowledge sharing collaboration, initiated in 2016, has been a project to share Korea's policy experiences with countries supported by the EBRD. The government explained that this revision has developed the cooperation framework to reflect recent global development cooperation demands such as digital technology and AI.
During a meeting with Vice President Bowman, Director General Moon shared the performance evaluation system of Korea's trust fund and requested cooperation to apply a Korean-style evaluation model to future EBRD projects. He also emphasized the need to expand the recruitment of Korean nationals in a meeting with the Human Resources Division and urged active participation in the international organization recruitment briefing scheduled for the second half of the year.
The theme of this annual meeting was "Expanding horizons, enduring strengths." The meeting adopted EBRD's five-year strategy and capital framework for 2026-2030 and the implementation plan for 2025-2027. It was also agreed to expand the regions supported by EBRD to include sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria).
EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso noted, "The new strategy was established based on consultations with member countries during the capital increase last year," and stated, "Support for Ukraine's reconstruction will remain a top priority going forward."
Director General Moon presented suggestions for the implementation of the strategy as follows: actively attracting private capital, transitioning to a climate-centered economic system using digital technology, introducing advanced systems to enhance transparency, and upgrading the performance evaluation system. He emphasized, "Improving the internal capacities of supported countries is the key to sustainable development."
Founded in 1991, EBRD is a development bank that has supported the transition to a market economy in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Korea, as a founding member, is strengthening its partnership through policy cooperation, financial support, and expanding human exchanges.