South Korea Finance Minister Highlights AI for Developing Nations at G7 Meeting

By Kang Yoon-seung

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's finance minister stressed the importance of building artificial intelligence (AI) capacity in developing countries to achieve sustainable growth during the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers and central bank governors' meeting, his office said Wednesday.

Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol made the remarks at the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors' meeting held in Paris on Tuesday (Paris time), where South Korea was invited along with India, Brazil and Kenya, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

During the meeting, Koo said AI and digital technologies play a key role in accelerating productivity growth in developing countries, noting that governments, multilateral development banks and the private sector need to work closely together to strengthen related capabilities.

The finance minister urged the G7 nations to make AI capacity building for developing countries one of their key agendas.

Koo also pointed out that global economic imbalances pose risks to the global economy, noting that all countries need to make policy efforts to address such disparities.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Koo met with finance policymakers from key countries, including Germany and Canada, to discuss ways to address the impact of the prolonged Middle East crisis and other pressing global issues, the ministry added.

During his meeting with German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, Koo said South Korea intends to continue playing a responsible role in addressing global imbalances and diversifying supply chains, with the two sides vowing to strengthen their strategic cooperation.

Koo expressed hope for closer bilateral cooperation in energy, defense and other cutting-edge industries during a separate meeting with Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, the finance ministry added.