OREANDA-NEWS. Since relations between Korea and Africa began in 1961, bilateral trade has grown to about 60 percent.

And there are efforts to deepen relations between the continent and Korea, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa, Acting Chief Economist and Vice-President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), said Thursday at the AfDB Annual Meetings in Abidjan.

Speaking at the session titled “Korean Miracle in Africa?”, Kayizzi-Mugerwa said the AfDB has had a very rich cooperation with Korea and the Bank has much to learn from the Asian country.

“We are learning from them and trying to understand where they’ve made mistakes,” he said.

Korean researchers have visited the Bank and the Bank is learning about the ‘New Village Movement’ in that country, a movement that is aimed at improving the living conditions of people in the countryside, said Kayizzi-Mugerwa.

“The movement helps to raise the income of citizens,” he said, adding that the Bank has tried to apply the philosophy in Ethiopia and in C?te d’Ivoire and “we are seeing good results.”

He admitted, however, that the concept might not work everywhere.

In his presentation, Kim Yoonkyeong, the Director General, International Finance Bureau, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Korea, said in spite of growth on the African continent, it has not resulted in poverty reduction.

He said Korea could offer constructive support to resolve Africa’s challenges.

He indicated that Korea went through a period of trial and error over 50 years to get to where the country is today.

The Korean Ambassador to C?te d’Ivoire, Surh Sung-Yol, said, as the world watched the transformation of Africa, the continent’s partnership with Korea is strengthened.