'Korea, UK can do more together on international development'

Gareth Weir, Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy Seoul, poses near Deoksu Palace in central Seoul, March 10. Korea Times photo by Kwon Mee-yoo

UK diplomat seeks deeper partnership with Korea to address global challenges

By Kwon Mee-yoo

As Korea aims to take on a greater role in the international development arena, the United Kingdom can be an ideal partner, leveraging British expertise and Korean innovation, said Gareth Weir, Deputy Ambassador at the British Embassy Seoul.

Weir is a development professional with extensive overseas experience, working in parts of Africa and Asia at a global management consulting company and later contributing to the creation of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in the U.K.

"The first half of my career was in the private sector, working for a consulting company, before moving to the public sector, joining the U.K. civil service initially to work on development," he said during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, March 10.

"I worked in Tanzania, Mozambique, Nepal on big transformation programs. I spent over a decade living in developing countries and working on key issues such as humanitarian aid, access to finance, economic growth and women's empowerment. It's something I'm passionate about."

With this experience in both private and public sectors, Weir believes that achieving a balance between the two sectors is crucial to making a meaningful impact on development.

"I think actually, businesses have a big role to play in development. They have to understand that they are not here just to make money ... but to improve the world which we live in and understand their impact on climate, people and supply chains. (Businesses are) not just about money, but they are here as an actor in society and have a responsibility to play that role," he said.

"But having worked for a long time in business, I also am very interested in the role of the public sector to shape the policy framework and understand government interventions that can help shift private and public sector to deliver change."

In that context, Weir is interested in Korea's path of development and ambition to become a major global development player.

"Coming here, it's a very different dynamic. (Korea is) a developed country, which has an incredible story of its own development ― one of the very few that have managed in one generation to move from a low GDP per capita to over $30,000 now," he said.

"(It is) so fascinating to hear and talk about Korea's success and get to know more about that. But I'm also really interested in Korea's ambition to be a big global development player, as set out in the recently published ROK (Republic of Korea) Indo-Pacific strategy. ROK has an ambition to be a top 10 donor, which is a big step."

Korea as emerging development player

Gareth believes that global superpowers should be doing more to address the challenges of the Sustainable Development Goals and sees Korea as having a significant role, mentioning Korea's growing presence at bilateral and multilateral levels.

"In my times traveling various countries in Africa and others, I've met and seen KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) in action and they have a good reputation. I have met and worked with Koreans in the field and seen the ambition of Korea to do more," he said.

"Korea has helped to start and host important initiatives such as the GGGI (Global Green Growth Institute) and the Green Climate Fund. Both are headquartered in Korea and they are important international organizations focused on climate, a shared challenge for all of us."

The deputy head of mission sees potential for collaboration between Korea and the U.K. in multilateral organizations such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and Green Climate Fund.

"We're looking to explore how we can partner on priority themes together such as climate, health and digital in the Indo-Pacific. There's also potential to work together to bring in more good investment into poorer countries in the region with our publicly funded investment vehicles in Korea and U.K. working together to catalyze much bigger investment," Weir said, noting other potential areas for cooperation such as gender equality and peace.

"One of the most challenging things for international development is climate change and it is right at the heart of our mutual development agenda. There are many important projects related to energy transition such as shifting to renewables or core infrastructure that can be difficult to finance on pure commercial terms and need a blended model. The U.K. and Korea have the expertise to share on financing these types of projects that have a big impact on development."

The U.K. is interested in the Indo-Pacific due to its substantial market economy with half of the world's population and GDP.

"Korea is a very significant player in the region, being a top 10 economy (in the world) with great innovation. The science and tech that Korea has is pushing the barriers of the next innovation and the K-wave, your soft power, is unmatched," he said.

"Partnering with Korea can help benefit all of us in the region. I think fundamentally, we have a similar outlook ― we both focus on the rules of law, norms and human rights. The kind of values that are in Korea's Indo-Pacific strategy are the values that the U.K. hold. In that sense, we have a lot in common even though our countries are very different in terms of history, culture and languages."

Weir also noted the longstanding relations between Korea and the U.K., which date back to the Joseon Kingdom era and will be celebrating their 140th anniversary this year with a series of political and cultural events.

"A lot has happened on the peninsula over the last 140 years and the U.K. is very proud of our deep friendship with ROK," Weir said.