South Korea's finance minister said Wednesday that Asian countries should pursue openness and rules of fair trade to address rising economic fragmentation and geopolitical instability.
Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho also said South Korea will spare no efforts to support the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) "role as a platform for international cooperation to restore global connectivity."
"We need to address economic and geopolitical fragmentation, and highlight the rules of fair trade once again," Choo said during the opening speech of the 56th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the ADB in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul.
"When it comes to reshaping the global supply chain, digitalization, health and climate cooperation, we need to create a robust multi-layered structure for cooperation," he added.
The finance minister said the COVID-19 pandemic has raised the demand for the ADB to offer "solutions to the pandemic, climate change and low growth, which no single country can tackle alone."
"Amid increasing economic fragmentation and continuing geopolitical instability, there are growing concerns of economic contraction," Choo said. "Korea will gladly take part in efforts to find solutions."
Choo also said Asian nations should go through structural changes for sustainable growth and cope with global changes.
"As for Korea, pension reform reflecting sustainability as well as labor and education reform enhancing productivity are difficult but what we must do," Choo said.
During the opening ceremony, ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa expressed gratitude to South Korea's contributions to the Manila-based bank.
"Korea is a founding member of ADB, and it has made a remarkable transition from a borrowing member to a donor country," Asakawa said. "I am proud of ADB's contributions over more than half a century to Korea's transformation into a global economic powerhouse.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency