Korea hosts World Bank AI summit outside Washington for the first time

South Korea is hosting a World Bank artificial intelligence and digital summit this week, the first time the institution has held the event outside Washington.

The Global AI and Digital Summit runs from Oct. 19 to 22 at the Grand Hyatt in Seoul. The Science Ministry, which announced the event, said ministerial representatives from about 60 countries were due at the opening ministerial meeting on Oct. 19, alongside senior World Bank officials and international organizations including the International Telecommunication Union. The Finance Ministry put overall attendance at more than 900 people from about 160 countries, including World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and digital ministers.

The Science Ministry presented the summit as a continuation of Korea's digital ministerial meetings, which it has held since 2005, and as a platform for sharing Korean AI and digital technology and policy experience. The Finance Ministry placed it in the framework of development finance, centered on the World Bank's Global AI and Digital Knowledge Center, which opened in Songdo in December last year, and a Korean-funded World Bank AI and digital fund.

That fund's first approved project is a medicine-tracking system built in Mozambique with Korean company technology, which the government wants to spread to neighboring countries and upgrade with AI analysis to detect anomalies and improve demand forecasting.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il told the opening ceremony that Korea had seen technology change its economy and people's lives while growing from a recipient of international aid into a donor. "Based on Korea's experience and capabilities, we want to become a partner in the AI transition of developing countries," he said.

The government is also promoting a plan to gather AI cooperation centers from six multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank, in Korea. Finance officials said this would contribute to the World Bank's "@A Billion" goal of giving one billion people digital access and opportunity by 2030.

The summit's ministerial meeting, co-chaired by Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon and World Bank Vice President Kim Sang-bu, adopted a chair's statement after discussions under the theme "From Ambition to Action." Its agenda covered digital inclusion and access, AI-driven innovation in public services and building an innovative AI and digital ecosystem.

Banga met Lee on Oct. 19 and praised Korea as a country equipped with public funds, private capital and technology, according to the Finance Ministry. The two discussed expanding cooperation on AI and nuclear power and encouraging Korean companies to invest in developing countries and mobilize private capital. Lee also asked for support in expanding the presence of Korean nationals in senior World Bank positions.

The program continues with policy forums and a corporate exhibition on Oct. 20 and 21, where domestic and foreign companies are showing AI and digital technologies and services. On Oct. 22, overseas participants are scheduled to visit the Korea Water Resources Corporation and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital to see how Korea applies the technology.

What participating governments will take home is a chair's statement and a look at Korean installations.