By Cho Jin-seo
The G20 nations have included the term “Seoul Consensus” in the draft of the G20 Seoul Summit’s final statement, which Korea hopes will be the new paradigm for economic development among poor countries.
The reference to the South Korean capital in the development initiative will be a major public relations achievement for the country, which is hosting the leaders of the G20 member states from today.
The agreement from other G20 nations, including the United States and China, signals that the free market ideal of the so-called Washington Consensus will now be replaced, or at least complemented, by the Seoul Consensus. It is also a victory for various NGOs that have been supporting Korean initiatives on development.
Two key officials of the Presidential Committee for the G20 Seoul Summit confirmed separately to The Korea Times on Wednesday that it is going to be the official term for the economic growth model.
“President Lee Myung-bak will announce the Seoul Consensus at the official press conference on Friday,” an official on the team working on the draft said. “There has been no objection from other countries.”
The main idea of the consensus is “to teach the poor how to catch fish instead of giving away fish,” as expressed by President Lee.
As the chair nation, South Korea has been leading discussions on this year’s G20 agenda including new banking regulations, reform of the International Monetary Fund, and rebalancing of international trade surpluses and deficits. But the country has a brand problem, as many of its achievements are claimed by other countries and international organizations as their contribution.
The Seoul Consensus is set to be the one achievement which no one can argue about. Korea has strongly insisted that its own experience of rapid economic development can be a lesson that rich countries will never be able to give to poor countries.
Many academics and NGOs, especially those on the anti-globalization front, have urged the G20 to scrap the Washington Consensus model of development, which is focused on deregulation, privatization and the free flow of goods and capital across borders. Oxfam, a large NGO, has called on the G20 to adopt a “Seoul Development Consensus.” Chang Ha-joon, a Korean professor at Cambridge University, said that “it’s time to reject the Washington Consensus” in an article carried by the Guardian newspaper, Tuesday.
“A Seoul Consensus based on the history of my country could be both fairer and more effective than the Washington variety that has lost its intellectual and pragmatic credibility,” Chang said.
The official, however, was more cautious on the notion that the Seoul Consensus was a replacement of the Washington Consensus.
“The Seoul Consensus, the Washington Consensus and the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations all share the same goal — to allow countries to escape from poverty. It’s just that we are taking a different approach, since we are not satisfied with how the Washington Consensus has worked,” the official said.
“We are not opposed to the notion of trade liberalization and globalization. We want to focus on the fact that poor countries must develop themselves as Korea did and foreign aid cannot solve all problems.”
Meanwhile, top executives of the world’s 120 richest companies opened the G20 Business Summit Wednesday to discuss policy recommendations for leaders of the G20 advanced and emerging nations.
The two-day event kicked off with a welcome dinner hosted by the co-chairs of South Korea’s organizing committee, Minister of Knowledge Economy Choi Kyung-hwan and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik.
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