In the just concluded meeting of finance officials from the world's 20 major economies, South Korea demonstrated to the world its "coordinating" capabilities as a G-20 chair country and help produce a consensus between emerging and advanced members, Yonhap news agency said Saturday.
“Drawing consensus on the issues of financial safety net and IMF reform were among the areas where South Korea succeeded in mediating member countries,” it said citing officials who attended the meeting.
In Washington, the finance ministers and central bank governors agreed to discuss how to strengthen a financial safety net for emerging countries as one of top agenda during future G-20 meetings. It was first proposed by South Korea aimed at pooling money and set it aside to help less developed nations to head off a financial crisis, it said.
South Korea also played such a role when China, the U.S. and Japan bickered over the sustainable and balanced growth framework, leading them to agree that such a growth objective is "closely related and needs to be pursued in a way that is mutually reinforcing," it said citing the officials.
"As a country that is located between developed and developing countries and that suffered poverty and also remarkable economic growth in short period of time, South Korea appears to be a right nation to play such a mediating role," a Seoul official said on condition of anonymity. "We believe it has played the role quite well this time."