1. According to the annual statistics for the year 2011 on the official development assistance (ODA) from member states of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which was
released by the OECD on April 4 (Paris time), the ODA from the Republic of Korea reached US$1.32 billion last year.
° The figure shows a 5.8% increase from the US$1.17 billion donation in 2010, taking into account the changes in the exchange rate and prices reflected.
° The ROK ranked 17th among the 23 DAC members in the ODA share, – one notch up from 2010 -- and recorded 0.12% in the ODA/GNI ratio, which remains the same as the year before and still lower than the DAC average of 0.31%.
2. The OECD noted with appreciation the increased ODA from the ROK, Italy, Switzerland, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany and Australia despite the ongoing economic crisis.
° The ODA from the ROK has constantly grown since 2006.
3. The combined ODA from all the DAC member states in 2011 reached US$133.5 billion, a nominal increase of US$5 billion from 2010 but in effect, a 2.7% decrease for the first time since 2007 when the changes in exchange rates and prices are taken into account.
° The decrease is attributable to the budgetary cuts of 16 DAC countries following the financial crisis.
4. Out of the ODA from the ROK in 2011, bilateral assistance amounted to US$970 million, a 7.7% increase from US$900 million in 2010, while multilateral assistance stood at US$350 million, a 28.5% increase from US$270 million of the previous year.
° The bilateral assistance consisted of 57.5% of grant aid and 42.5% of loans, compared with 63.6% and 36.4%, respectively, in 2010 -- a 6.2% decrease in aid and an increase of loans.
° The increase in multilateral assistance is largely ascribable to an increase in the grant awarded to the World Bank and the Regional Development Bank, as well as in the contribution to the UN.
5. The ROK government will continue to work toward the goal of increasing its ODA/GNI ratio to 0.25%, equivalent to some US$30 billion, by 2015 as part of its effort to enhance contribution to the international community.
Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFAT
* unofficial translation