By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
South Korea will chair the annual meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris from June 24 to 25.
Prime Minister Han Seung-soo arrived in the European country Saturday in a bid to lead the ministerial-level council meeting to discuss measures against the backdrop of the financial crisis.
The council is considered the major decision-making body of the OECD.
Ministers from about 30 OECD member countries and representatives from international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will hold discussions under the title of ``The Crisis and Beyond: building a stronger, cleaner, fairer world economy.''
Prime Minister Han is also scheduled to preside over other meetings of the OECD's advisory associations on business- and labor-related issues.
``The meeting will offer an opportunity for ministers to review progress, advance solutions and enhance cooperation in tackling the challenges of the world economy,'' the OECD said in a press release.
The gathering is part of OECD Week, which includes the OECD Forum 2009 scheduled to be held alongside the ministerial meeting from June 23 to 24.
The forum is aimed at bringing together leaders of government, business, labor and civil society to share their view on the ministerial meeting's issues with the media and a broad public audience, the international organization said.
On the sidelines of the OECD meeting, Han will meet with his French counterpart Francois Fillon to discuss ways to boost cooperation between the two countries.
He has also just visited the United Arab Emirates (UAD) for talks with President Sheikh Khalifa.
They discussed ways to strengthen cooperation regarding nuclear power and other new energy fields as well as expand trade and investment, Han's office in Seoul said.
Han will sign an agreement on nuclear power cooperation with his UAE counterpart Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the office said.
Prime Minister Han has led the nation's resource diplomacy to upgrade the self-sufficiency energy rate since Presidednt Lee Myung-bak's administration was inaugurated in February last year.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr