President-in-waiting Lee Myung-bak has appointed a prominent British financier to his transition team in an unprecedented move that gives a non-Korean a major role on the presidential transition team.

David Eldon, chairman of the Dubai International Financial Center Authority, will be co-heading the transition team's special committee on national competitiveness.

His appointment comes as Lee carries out his pledge to follow a pragmatic path in reinvigorating Korea's sluggish economy.

The president-elect, who was chosen as the nation's next leader in a landslide election win last week, vows to activate foreign investment by easing regulations and expanding incentives.

Korea's new administration under Lee is expected to carry out various pro-business policies stemming from his so-called "747 pledge." Lee aims to expand the nation's annual growth rate to 7 percent, raise annual per capita income to $40,000 and make Korea the world's seventh-largest economy within a decade.

"The president-elect anticipates that Eldon will play a large role in shaping policies that match global standards," an aide of Lee said Thursday.

Eldon and Lee first met in 2002, when Eldon was serving as chairman of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council (SIBAC) and Lee was Seoul mayor. The SIBAC, sponsored by Seoul city, meets annually, enabling global financial experts to share their views on the Asian economy.      

Eldon, former chairman of Hong Kong and the Shanghai Banking Corporation of HSBC Group, is widely known for his strong drive, a trait he shares with Lee. That shared characteristic became a core factor in their friendship.

The 62-year-old financier is expected to play a key role in the transition team in carrying out Lee's campaign promises, including building a cross-country canal and developing the Saemangeum tidal flats in Jeollanam-do (province).

The transition team will work until Feb. 24, the day before Lee's official inauguration, creating a blueprint for the next five years.

Eldon is said to have been supportive of Lee's controversial canal plan, which has been attacked as being not economically viable.

Lee believes that the project, comprising 17 waterways across Korea, would reduce the nation's reliance on roads, reduce air pollution and reduce transportation costs.

But critics question the feasibility and the profitability of what they call an old-fashioned transportation method.

While serving as Seoul mayor, Lee set up several policies reflecting the SIBAC's suggestions such as construction of a foreigners' school in Yongsan, central Seoul, and constructing the DMC landmark building in Sangam-dong, east Seoul.

Born in Scotland, Eldon was educated at the Duke of York's Royal Military School. He started his career in banking with an Australian banking group in London in 1964, and joined the British Bank of the Middle East (now HSBC Bank Middle East) in 1968.

In January that year, he took up his first position in Dubai, remaining in the Middle East in a variety of roles in different countries. He became the chief executive officer of the HSBC in 1996 and was appointed chairman in 1999.