August 26, 2024 - The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI), in collaboration with the Embassy of Republic of Korea in Sri Lanka hosted a seminar titled, “Economic Security in the Indian Ocean Region; Prospects for Collaboration between Sri Lanka and Republic of Korea” on August 21, 2024. It was attended by Ambassadors and diplomats, representatives of International Organisations, senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant Ministries and agencies, business persons, leading researchers and university students.

Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Executive Director of LKI, emphasized the seminar's focus on learning from Korea's experience in science and technology innovation to address Sri Lanka's low R&D expenditure and foster a more innovative society.

H.E. Miyon Lee, Ambassador of Korea highlighted Korea’s historical and ongoing efforts in transforming its economy globally and identified two critical elements for achieving this transformation: ‘Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection’ and the development of an ‘innovation ecosystem.’ Ambassador Lee also emphasized the relevance of this discussion for contemporary Sri Lanka, which is emerging from an economic crisis and is seeking to adopt export-oriented policies and attract more Foreign Direct Investments.

Dr. Kyungjin Song, Country Representative of The Asia Foundation Korea Office, led the first session of the seminar. Her presentation focused on the evolution of Korean economic statecraft over the past sixty years and explored potential future collaborations between Sri Lanka and South Korea. She highlighted three key elements of Korea's economic development: institution building and capacity building, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Dr. Song noted that in 1962, when Korea launched its first five-year economic development plan, its major exports included iron ore, tungsten, anthracite, raw silk, and squid. By 2023, ROK’s primary exports had shifted to semiconductors, automobiles, petrochemicals, synthetic resin, auto parts, and ship building. In her presentation, Dr. Song highlighted a crucial moment in Korea's economic history. She described how, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, as many Korean students were emigrating to the U.S. for higher education, ROK made a strategic move. The establishment of the Korea Development Institute (KDI) was a key initiative by the Korean government to harness global talent. Dr. Song explained that KDI’s leadership, under the president’s direction, traveled abroad to engage with these scholars, experts, and bright minds, persuading them to return to ROK to contribute to ROK’s economic development. This played a crucial role in Korea's rapid economic transformation. She also emphasized the critical importance of purposeful and continued investment in R&D activities and innovation as it paves the way for economic growth and development. Korea is a perfect example which has shown good correlation between the two. Dr. Song also shared valuable lessons from the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and proposed potential areas for collaboration between Sri Lanka and the Republic of Korea. She suggested opportunities in renewable energy investments and noted that Sri Lanka's graphite, an essential raw material for South Korea's semiconductor, battery, and automobile industries, could be a valuable resource for future cooperation. She added that The Asia Foundation, in partnership with Google.org, is implementing a series of education programs on cybersecurity in 12 Asian countries, including Korea and Sri Lanka.

The panel discussion that followed was moderated by Prof. Ajith De Alwis, Chief Innovation Officer of the National Innovation Agency (NIA) and Senior Professor of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa. The four member panels included Dr. Kyungjin Song - Country Representative of The Asia Foundation Korea Office, Prof. (Dr.) Nishantha Sampath Punchihewa - Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo and former member of the Intellectual Property Advisory Commission, Mr. K.A.Vimalenthirarajah - Director General of the Department of Trade and Investment Policies, Ministry of Finance, and Mr. Anushka Wijesinha - Co-founder/Director of Centre for a Smart Future. Mr. Anushka Wijesinha is a fellow of the 2013 The Asia Foundation-KDI School International Development Cooperation Capacity Building Program.

Photo by LKI