Gates calls on Seoul to raise aid, rethink strategy for greater impact

Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, called on Seoul to increase its foreign aid and redirect more of it to global health, recommending that Seoul allocate 15 percent of its aid portfolio to multilateral initiatives such as the vaccine alliance Gavi.

Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp., called for increased spending on official development assistance after meeting President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Thursday during his two-day visit to Seoul, which began Wednesday.

“We've challenged the government a little bit to go back and look at their ODA spending. ODA spending is a bit less than 0.3 percent of GDP, and hopefully that will grow over time,” Gates said Thursday afternoon during his press briefing in Seoul with local media.

Gates stressed that global health multilaterals are by far the most effective form of ODA given their efficiency and accountability.

“In our proposal, as this government makes a new ODA strategy, the health multilaterals could grow to be as much as 15 percent of that and draw South Korea into a much stronger role in terms of governance and contributions,” he said.

In July, President Lee ordered a sweeping review of South Korea’s ODA programs, questioning whether all aid projects that consume billions of won each year serve diplomatic purposes and enhance national prestige.

Gates said South Korea’s ODA remains too focused on the bilateral level, while most of the other donor countries channel a larger share of their aid through multilateral institutions such as Gavi and the Global Fund.

“Korea is a bit of an outlier in the current approach, but this new government can take a fresh look at that,” Gates said.

Gates also underscored that raising the ratio of South Korea’s ODA to its gross national income to the 0.5 percent level is critical. He noted that the aspiration level for wealthy countries is 0.7 percent — a benchmark only a few have surpassed, while Europe as a whole stands at around 0.4 percent.

“In terms of getting to the 0.7 percent, that's not a near-term aspiration. But you're a little bit below 0.3 percent. So ideally, there’d be a concrete plan to get towards 0.5 percent over the next five years.”

Gates stressed that South Korea should regard development assistance not just as a financial burden but as a reflection of national values, noting that Korea itself once benefited from international aid.

“Well, certainly, 99 percent of the money, or maybe someday 98 percent, should be spent on those things. I don’t think you can solve those problems with the 1 or 2 percent that has to do with,” Gates responded to questions about the legitimacy of spending Korean taxpayers’ money on foreign aid at a time when South Korea faces pressing domestic challenges.

Referring to South Korea’s past as an aid recipient, Gates added, “When aid was brought here to Korea, was that valuable? It saved a lot of Korean lives at that time."

"And now, it’s up to the voters to decide.”

When asked whether he has an interest in aiding North Korea, Gates said, “North Korea is low-income enough that, if they choose, they can work with these health agencies on things like vaccines.”

Before the news briefing, Gates met with President Lee to discuss global health security, highlighting South Korea’s technological and manufacturing capabilities in the biotechnology sector.

Gates praised South Korea’s rapid progress in vaccine research and production, citing the work of institutions and companies such as the International Vaccine Institute, SK Bioscience, LG Chem and EuBiologics, according to Lee's office.

About 11 percent of the Gavi-distributed vaccines already come from Korean companies.

Prime Minister Kim also said while having lunch with Gates, “If the strong capabilities of Korean bio companies are combined with the Gates Foundation’s global network, it could create a powerful synergy effect.”

Kim also called for “exploring various avenues of cooperation through the future opening of the Gates Foundation’s Korea office,” which is currently underway.

Later in the day, Gates also held talks with the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, where he urged Seoul to review its aid portfolio and concentrate resources on the areas with the greatest impact.

“Unfortunately, in aid, the weakest programs are often the ones that get into the newspaper, which can tarnish the overall effort because people won’t focus on how miraculous the really strong work is,” Gates said. “So we have to be vigilant and very careful, and I think this is a good time to make that review.”

Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik told Gates, “The National Assembly has a firm bipartisan commitment to expanding official development assistance and strengthening international health cooperation.”

By Ji Da-gyum and Joint Press Corp