Finance ministry to co-host World Bank AI summit in Seoul

The finance ministry said Tuesday it will co-host the Global AI and Digital Summit with the World Bank Group and other partners in Seoul from Oct. 20 to 22, the first time the lender's annual gathering is held outside Washington.

About 900 people from more than 160 countries, including World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, digital ministers and private-sector executives, are expected at the Grand Hyatt Seoul, the largest edition of the event to date, according to the ministry.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il welcomed the Seoul hosting in an opening address, saying Korea's own development had shown how technology can reshape an economy and people's lives.

"Based on Korea's experience and capabilities, we want to become a partner that works with developing countries in their AI transition," Lee said.

Discussions at the summit will focus on creating jobs and raising productivity through AI and digital technology, widening growth opportunities for developing countries, improving digital access and building a basis for trustworthy use of AI, the ministry said. Sessions will also examine how AI can be applied in areas such as agriculture and health.

The government is pursuing what it calls a "global AI basic society," in which no country or individual is left out of AI's benefits, by bringing the AI cooperation centers of six multilateral development banks to Korea. They are the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.

The World Bank's Global AI and Digital Knowledge Center, which opened in Songdo in December, is taking a leading role in that effort, the ministry said. A digital fund financed by the Korean government supports developing countries in adopting AI solutions and building the foundations to apply AI in individual sectors.

The first project approved under the fund extends a medicine-tracking system built in Mozambique with Korean company technology to neighboring countries, adding AI analysis to detect irregular transactions and improve demand forecasting.

Korea also plans to use its K-AI package to identify projects suited to the needs and conditions of developing countries, and the ministry said these efforts contribute to the World Bank's "@A Billion" goal of giving 1 billion people digital access and opportunity by 2030.

Lee met Banga on Oct. 19, the day before the summit opened, to discuss cooperation between Korea and the World Bank. The two sides agreed to draw on Korea's AI innovation and experience, which the bank highlighted in its World Development Report published in August and its East Asia and Pacific Economic Update in October, in work with developing countries. They also discussed using Korea's nuclear power development experience and technology to support stable energy supply and sustainable growth in developing countries.

Banga praised Korea as a country equipped with the public financing, private capital and technology needed for development, and expressed a willingness to significantly expand cooperation on Korean corporate investment in developing countries and on mobilizing private capital, according to the ministry.