Islamic project finance is a project finance using Shariah compliant Islamic finance scheme. Recently, the role of Islamic project finance has been increased with the growth of Islamic financial industry based on high oil price, in particular, after the break of global financial crisis. The aim of the study is to analyze structures, trends and risk factors of Islamic project finance and to draw some policy implications from the analyses.
First of all, this study reviews the definition and features of Islamic project finance and explains basic structures of Islamic finance utilized in project finance with market trends examined. Chapter three analyzes specific structures and characteristics of Islamic project finance in the GCC countries through five case studies. Chapter four looks through potential risk factors in Islamic project finance that might occur. In chapter five, we suggest several policy implications that need to consider when the Islamic project finance scheme is applied to project finance involved with Korean companies and financial institutions.
For the policy implications, it is necessary to establish a research center specialized in comprehensive research on new products or schemes in Islamic finance, Islamic law or regulation in various countries of the world. Second, a large number of professional manpower related to Islamic finance should be trained through short term training courses or graduate-level academic courses on Islamic finance, shariah and area studies in the long term. Third, governmental supportive system should be established to help Korean companies and financial institutions to cope with lack of experiences, knowledge or experts. Fourth, it is needed to build institutional and legal infrastructure to introduce Islamic finance scheme to Korea.

This study focuses on the economic feasibility of ODA projects using benefit-cost analysis. Within a short period, the surge in the number and scale of ODA projects has presented difficulty in the project management and the evaluation of the performance. Therefore, it is time to require the tool that enhances accountability by rigorously analyzing economic efficiency.
In addition, previous studies on the benefit-cost analysis of ODA projects are very rare. The purpose of this study is to present how to apply a benefit-cost analysis to ODA projects. As the procedures for the analysis are devised to reflect both the perspective of the recipient and donor countries to the extent possible, the application of the procedures enables ODA projects to be executed efficiently.
This study argues that the benefit-cost analysis of ODA projects should be more aggressively utilized. For example, the benefit-cost analysis can be applied to a preliminary investigation and/or a pre-feasibility study to verify the efficient enforcement of ODA projects before a feasibility study is performed. At the same time, we have to note both the uniqueness of ODA projects in distinction from other domestic public projects and the constraints that can occur when applying a benefit-cost analysis. For this purpose, the present study deals with the procedures and evaluation criteria of benefit-cost analysis, benefit and cost items, and existing practices.

The advent of the mass production system in the process of economic development has enabled humanity to improved the quality of life after the industrial revolution. During the process, however, the consumption of fossil fuels soared and the accumulation of greenhouse gases has led to global warming. Moreover, the rapid depletion of fossil fuels also brought with it the problem of resource scarcity.
The confirmation of the purpose of sustainable development in recent Rio+20 and green economy has encouraged every country in the world to make an appropriate effort to solve the challenges common to all of humanity. As green economy is  a concept centered on environment friendly economic growth, the very public emphasis given to the idea implies movement in a desirable direction. 
In 2008, Korea has proposed green growth as a new economic development strategy for the future and has been participating in related international activities. As a socio-economic development strategy, the green growth policy seeks to improve the quality of life by achieving environment friendly economic growth via utilization of renewable energy and green technology. Furthermore, Korea aims to become a role model for green growth worldwide, by supporting developing countries' response to climate change.
The objective of the study is to present Korea's ODA policy direction for its steady support to developing countries' response to climate change and green growth, by examining the relationship between sustainable development and green growth policy. Also, this study analyzes the difference between 'green economy' and 'green growth' which are very similar as concepts. Moreover, this study introduces a concept of so-called 'green growth ODA', which reflects the value of green growth that Korea pursues and compares the 'aid to environment' as defined by OECD Development Assistance.
The policy suggestions of the study are as follows:  first of all, the government should establish a specific objective, for trailblazing in green growth ODA. It is also necessary to promote green growth ODA in the context of sustainable development. In this regard, it is important to share with developing countries Korea's experience with promoting green growth as a national policy. To develop policy and implement projects related to green growth, the creation of a control tower is recommended at the highest level of government. The enhancement of our own human capital to facilitate green growth ODA policy is crucial. Lastly, the green growth ODA policy should consider environmental integrity as well as economic growth of developing countries.    

 

As China has rapidly risen, it became the most important trade and investment partner, and the formation of Greater China bridging China-Hong Kong-Taiwan as China is its center. 15 years have witnessed its successful reunification with China since Hong Kong returned to China in 1997. Especially, China-Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement(CEPA) concluded in 2003 played a role as the key to expanding the economic cooperation through 9 times supplementary agreements to CEPA. On the other hand, China-Taiwan Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement(ECFA) which was concluded in June, 2010 and came into effect in September, 2010 is expected to strengthen the economic ties between the two countries and to enormously affect the neighbor countries in the region. Therefore, this report firstly examines the historical background, development and the main issues of economic integration among greater China. Then, the economic integration will be scrutinized in terms of trade and investment between China-Hong Kong, and China-Taiwan. The institutional integration will be analyzed by comparing the commitments in CEPA and ECFA with those in the other Chinese FTAs concluded with other countries. Also, Guangdong and Fujian as the two main regions in China to cooperate with Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively will be the case study to present the economic cooperative programs and cases that may provide the meaningful implications for us.
Main findings in this study are as follows;
First of all, it is essential to analyze and to set up with a plan to deal with the mid and long term impacts of ECFA on Korea’s export to China. According to the analysis on the short term impacts of ECFA EHP(Early Harvest Program) coming into effect, the detrimental effect on Korea’s export to China turned out to be limited. In the medium and long term, however, the full-scale ECFA agreement in trade of goods will do considerable harm to the export of Korean products that are competing with Taiwanese goods in Chinese market. The competitive edge  will be given to Taiwanese products, especially in the highly protective (with high tariff rates) industries for the domestic demand. As for the highly protective industries for the external demand, on the other hand, the proportion of processing trade is relatively high so that the short term effect may be insignificant while the Korean market share in China will be encroached owing to the price disadvantage in the long term. In the industries for the domestic demand with relatively low tariff rates, probably the Taiwanese products will erode the Korean market share in China to a certain degree. The industries for the external demand with low tariff rates such as telecommucation equipment and machine, electronic parts, and computer related products will be comparatively safe from the damage caused by ECFA. Still, these products see the keen competition with the Taiwanese in Chinese market, and China has the strategy to change its economic growth engine from export to domestic consumption where the possibility cannot be completely excluded that the Korean market share in China will be pinched by Taiwanese products in the long term.
Second, the general policy of the economic cooperation with Greater China should be redirected; the biased trade policy only toward mainland China into a balanced trade policy for the whole Greater China considering the strategic importance of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Otherwise, the economic cooperation with mainland China should become more refined and sub-divided. As the reinforcement of economic cooperation among Greater China grows, the focal points of growth will be multipolarized. Therefore, the economic cooperation with the mainland China should be changed from the one that too much importance has been given only to the coastal areas into the one that diverse interests are reflected according to the multipolarized system of Chinese regional economic development.
Third, the implications for the Korea-China FTA are as follows;
i) Korea and China will also be able to broaden the liberalization through regular negotiations in the KCFTA framework as the China-Hong Kong CEPA. ii) As for opening trade in goods, we should aggressively negotiate the early tariff reduction for the intermediary goods that are severely competing with Taiwanese goods in Chinese market because Korea and Taiwan along with Japan are playing a role in providing the intermediary goods in China. This approach is positively necessary in order to prevent the market share erode by ECFA and to reap the fruit of Korea-China FTA in early stages. iii) For the service negotiations, we may request China's further liberalization in the sectors where China is more likely to open because in the FTAs with other countries China has already made commitments in GATS plus or DDA plus level, and also made additional commitments in CEPA. iv) the pilot basis liberalization measures included in CEPA also can be adopted in Korea-China FTA. That is to say, in the CEPA agreement, the trial liberalization measures were tested first in Guangdong province in the vicinity of Hong Kong and have been expanded in other provinces after they prove to be successfully implemented in the tested region. Also, the interactions and cooperation with Fujian province adjacent to Taiwan have been strengthened after ECFA. Therefore, further liberalization and cooperation on the pilot basis, in the framework of Korea-China FTA, can be made first in the regions where the trade and investment are vigorously made between the two countries. v) The joint feasibility study of Korea-Taiwan FTA may be initiated on non-governmental basis in terms of protecting the Korean market share in Taiwan from other countries and diversifying the trade strategy toward Greater China. The mainland China’s opinion on Korea-Taiwan FTA negotiation should never be given too much consideration based on the “One China” principle. vi) It seems desirable to have more active cooperation with Hong Kong service enterprises and Taiwan manufacturing firms by utilizing CEPA and ECFA in order to effectively advance into Chinese market.

During the past decade, soaring population and rapid progress in economic and social development led to detrimental impacts on the global environment. The world has experienced much environmental destruction, climate change, as well as loss in biodiversity. Environmental issues have significant impact especially on developing countries since a majority of the population depend largely on natural resources. As has been witnessed in recent natural catastrophes caused by climate change, people in less developed countries are often hit harder than those in wealthier nations. Such facts has promoted understanding on the relationship between development and environment among stakeholders in international development. More people are concentrating on the intimate link between sustainable development and the environment.
The importance of the environment in development was first brought to attention at the UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972. Since then, the focus of discussions has been on sustainable development which continued throughout the 1980s and the 1990s. In recent decades, people have come to realize that human development is unattainable without direct intervention on environmental issues, namely global climate change. At the Rio Summit on June 2012, countries around the world have reaffirmed that sustainable development is a common goal for all of humanity. Thus, policy trends such as environmental “mainstreaming” and “integrating the environment and development” are being highlighted. Such transition in development and environmental issues suggest that environmental considerations must be included in setting the policy and making decisions regarding development. It also seeks to promote resource efficiency, avoid environmental destruction, and protect impoverished populations against negative environmental impacts caused by development. It emphasizes a close correlation between all regimes regarding development and environment.
While environmental ODA is one of its core international development topics, the approach taken by Korea in its ODA policy tends to focus on quantitative increases. It is a matter of fact that there is room to improve  in terms of environmental mainstreaming or integration of environment and development. In other words, policy improvement is necessary for the comprehensive pursuit of environmental issues in development programs. This study first examines previous discussions on development and the environment, then reviews the efforts made by aid organizations making efforts to incorporate environmental considerations into development work, and finally, the study suggests areas for policy improvement.
Chapter 2 begins by reviewing past discussions on development and environment at the international level. The chapter also outlines efforts made by OECD DAC in order to support sustainable development in developing countries. By utilizing the DAC policy marker system, we look at the progress and characteristics of “environmental aid” - ODA projects with environmental considerations - promoted by DAC members in chapter 3. In chapter 4, the study observes the cases of Australia, Canada, the World Bank and UNDP. Australia and Canada were chosen as examples, as they are non-EU members similar in the amount of environment-related assistance compared to Korea. Chapter 4 also provides case studies of the World Bank, known for its environmental strategies and safeguard system, and UNDP which emphasizes environmental capacity building for the recipient country. Finally in chapter 5, the study reviews environmental considerations in Korea's ODA policy. Based on the findings, the study draws practical policy improvement suggestions which correspond with  international trend and standards. For instance, while individual agencies in development implementation promote integrating issues in environment and development through guidelines, safeguard systems and so on; even a holistic consideration of the environment and development is indeed insufficient at the general ODA policy-making level. Consequently, the study suggests a revised role of the Green ODA Committee, so that it could serve as the core environmental consideration in all development assistance programs. Also, it proposes establishing an integrated system for development and environment, approach methods specified by stage, improved cooperation between the central bureau and the department of environment, and increased support for recipient countries' capacity building.

Financial development is a necessary condition for economic development. However, the current state of financial development in most developing countries is rather striking. Over half of the world’s adult population do not use formal financial services to save or borrow. This is especially true for those who live at the poverty level, and without access to formal financial services, their ability to build wealth, increase income and manage uncertainty is seriously restricted.
Well-functioning financial systems provide savings, credit, payment, and risk management. Without inclusive financial systems, poor people must rely on their limited savings to invest in things like education or setting up small businesses. Therefore inclusive financial systems that help poor people and other disadvantaged groups in this regard do would be very beneficial, contributing to improvement of income distribution and economic growth. As expected, the degree of financial access is higher in economies with higher national income as measured by GDP per capita. However, national income explains much less of the variation in financial access for low and lower middle income countries. At a given income level and financial depth, use of financial services varies significantly across countries. This suggests a potentially important policy challenge. That is, ODA in finance must be directed towards improvements in financial access in poor countries.
Economic stability and effective contractual and informational frameworks are crucial for an inclusive financial system. To create a deep, efficient and stable financial system, however, the government’s role is very important. Governments have an important role in building long-term financial institutions and making financial markets function properly. In this respect, it is worth exploring how the financial system has evolved in Korea, which achieved surprisingly rapid industrial development with strong government support.
Korea's experience in financial development cannot be separated from the government. It is well-known that, since the early 1960s, the Korean government was directly involved in allocating credit for the purpose of fostering rapid industrialization and export expansion. From the early 1980s to the currency crisis of 1997, however, various attempts were made towards financial liberalization. Even if the government did not completely abstain from interventions in the financial markets, many attempts were made to lift government control over financial institutions. But deregulation in the absence of appropriate laws and institutions essential to a truly liberal financial system would serve as an important cause of the 1997 currency crisis. At that time, the necessary institutional infrastructure was not firmly in place. The post-crisis period has seen a series of reforms based upon so-called ‘global standard.’ The key lesson from Korea’s experiences was that institutions simply transplanted from abroad may not function as expected due to differences in stages of development and local specificity. This lesson also applies to many developing economies.
In principle, the financial ODA to developing countries should be designed to fit the circumstances of the recipient country. Policy alternatives should be differentiated in accordance with recipient countries’ demands. For example, policy options should reflect whether the recipient country wants enhancement of basic financial access, fostering development finance, or opening financial markets. It is necessary to develop step-by-step ODA programs based on the demands of respective recipient countries in different stages of financial development.
Another consideration is that Korea is taking its first steps in the financial ODA program. First of all, international norms and guidelines as well as the existing ODA practices need to be analyzed. Based on those analyses together with Korea's own experiences, a uniquely Korean financial ODA strategy can be derived. Strategies should also reflect what recipient countries wants from Korea. Also, it is important to find where Korea's comparative advantage lies.
This report examined potential strategies for Korea's financial ODA and provide three main areas for ODA; fostering financial markets, supporting development finance, and building financial infrastructure. First, fostering financial markets is the most basic step, especially for poor economies. Sub-areas in this category include enhancing financial accessibility, increasing savings, and developing capital markets. Second, supporting the development finance will probably be the most wanted area for recipient countries who wish to share with the experiences related to Korea's development strategies. The sub-areas include development finance, export finance, SME finance, microfinance programs. Third, programs related to building financial infrastructure could be focused on the education of financial experts, the establishment of a financial supervision system, and the cooperation with international organizations.
Overall. this report presents a total of 10 challenges which are potentially important for Korea’s financial ODA strategy. Proposed action plans and initiatives can be organized, depending on the development stages and demands of recipient countries. For example, for the country whose per capita income is very low and with a wide range of people not served by financial institutions, improving financial access will be a priority. Meanwhile, for the (middle income) country wishing to develop the manufacturing sector and enhance export, putting the emphasis on development finance and export finance might be more effective.
In fact, the ODA to developing countries is generally of a diverse nature. The ODA program is typically divided into institutional/technical support and direct funding. Institutional/technical support includes building financial infrastructure, financial sector reforms, and step-by-step financial development plans. Direct funding is a form that is closer to the original aim of the ODA. Because extensive and complex financial issues are interconnected, however, direct funding may have only limited impact. Nevertheless, the focus of financial ODA should not be limited just to consulting, training and education. There is a need to select diverse programs for enhancing financial access, microfinance, development finance, export finance, via small but direct funding. In this case, it is recommended to follow a more practical approach, through cooperation with recipient country governments and local NGOs.
This report examined comprehensively the financial circumstances of developing countries and ODA-related challenges in light of Korea’s experiences. However, there are smaller systematic studies on financial ODA strategies and in fact, this report listed several menus on programs simultaneously. In the future, it is necessary to review closely individual programs conducted by other countries and international organizations, and sort out selective programs suited to the characteristics and development stages of recipient countries. In other words, the focus of Korea's financial ODA will be on how to select country-specific programs and how to combine institutional/technical support with direct funding, and putting them into practice effectively.

 

 

Industrial development is crucial for sustainable growth of developing countries. However, it has been neglected in development cooperation due to experiences of failed development policies after the World War II and a critical stance toward industrial policy in the academia. However, the rapid growth of emerging industrialized countries has rekindled interest in the role of government in industrial development. Recently, the G20 Seoul Summit recognized the importance of effective development and strengthening industrial capacities of poor countries to combat poverty in the long run. As a country that achieved rapid development based on industrial competitiveness, Korea may possess comparative advantage in building industrial capacity of developing countries in various areas of development cooperation.
This study investigates the issues in development cooperation for building industrial capacity to elucidate promising areas for Korea. In addition, it proposes the direction of ODA in industries and challenges in assistance, to ensure their effectiveness. In particular, this study discusses the scope and issues in terms of development cooperation for industrial capacity building and explores the current activities of international organizations and major donor countries. Based on these discussions, the current status of Korea’s assistance related to industrial areas is evaluated. The study  
concludes by recommending promising programmes related to industrial capacity building and suggests the direction and tasks for development cooperation.
This study recommends that Korea invest more effort in developing concrete programmes at the intermediate level of industrial capacity building, such as technology, human resources, financial system, and trade facilitation. Korea should focus on building technical and managerial capability of the manufacturing sector in lower middle-income countries in Asia and Latin America. The promising programmes could be found in the area of promoting global value chain participation, which could stimulate increased trade among recipient countries and also foreign direct investment into those countries.
To make cooperation more effective, first, the industrial capacity building programmes should be planned at the inception/designing stage of CPS, which will enhance the alignment of programmes with industrial development strategies of recipient countries. Second, Korea should select promising programmes to focus on, to assure a significant and sustained impact. Third, closer cooperation between industrial policy consultation, capacity-building programmes, and hardware construction projects is required. Fourth, a more systematic and specialized cooperation is needed to resolve the fragmentation of assistance. Therefore, cooperation in this area should actively utilize the currently available policy resources in public and private organizations. Fifth, the programmes should be designed so as to induce the participation of the private sector, particularly the business sector. It will enhance the overseas CSR activities of firms and elicit expert inputs from firms into ODA programmes. Finally, greater effort should be devoted to strengthening the effectiveness of training and consulting activities.

Development assistance of international society in the agricultural sector and rural areas plays a vital role in the economic development process of developing counties. The alleviation of poverty and starvation through agricultural and rural development is an important policy challenge that has to be resolved in most developing countries. It is mainly because three-fourths of the total population are rural residents and two-thirds of their total population is engaged in agriculture.
Based on these facts, the United Nations (UN), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other international organizations are emphasizing the importance of development assistance in the agricultural sector of developing countries. Major developed countries as donors of Official Development Aid (ODA) have recently focused on supporting the developing countries in terms of development assistance for improving the quality of life of rural residents, by enhancing the agricultural productivity and promoting rural development rather than providing simple food aids.
Especially, Korea’s advanced agricultural techniques and experience in successful rural development in the process of its overall economic development provide a successful role model that most developing countries want to learn from. So international cooperation and development assistance in the field of agriculture should be actively pursued, as they have higher possibility of success than any other areas. In this regard, Korea has to reinforce development assistance in the agricultural sector in efforts to enhance its position globally.
The active pursuit of development assistance toward developing countries with effective policy tools and strategies could ultimately be the most important direction in enhancing national recognition and stature in the international society. Top donors of ODA like the United States, Germany, France and Japan are improving their national recognition and stature by strengthening various agricultural and rural development cooperation programs, to meet the demand of ODA in the agricultural sector of developing countries for the long term.
However, current agricultural development cooperation of Korea through ODA has several problems in terms of scale, method and systems of aid. First, the scale of support by ODA in the agricultural sector is still very small even though it is a growing trend. In particular, the grant-type aid for international agriculture cooperation has focused on short-term projects such as invitation/training and seminars because of its small scale of operations. Also, the effectiveness of development assistance in the agricultural sector is often diminished because of the various agents involved in agriculture development cooperation; as well as lack of systematic coordination among projects and developing countries in development assistance. In other words, Korea’s current development assistance system in the agricultural sector has the same problems as other areas such as the disjointed nature of performing authorities for development assistance, lack of sustainability and linkage of projects, and aid oriented towards one-off or short-term projects.
The main objective of this research is to find promising development cooperation programs for the agricultural sector in developing countries. First, aid projects for developing countries in which Korea has comparative advantages include: support for installation of greenhouses, improvement of seeds and soil fertility, agricultural water management, diversification of agricultural export crops, improvement of agricultural marketing channels, and organization of producer cooperatives. Second, there are also a number of promising cooperation programs in crops such as: support for establishing agricultural research and extension systems in order to improve agricultural productivity and grain self-sufficiency, technology distribution system, technical support for after the harvest, Rice Processing Centers (RPC); installation of community-based, small processing facilities and food  processing factories. Third, promising cooperation programs in the livestocks industry are as follows: support for milk production facilities, slaughter and fresh meat facilities, Livestock Processing Center (LPC) and installation of daily processing facilities. In addition, the Saemaeul Movement, which was a vital part of the Korean experience in agricultural and rural development, can be a very useful role model for developing countries.
However, the most import point in achieving successful cooperation for agricultural development assistance is to discover the promising cooperation programs which are suited to specific circumstances in the recipient countries. To do so, we need to examine thoroughly the characteristics of a recipient country and the status of its agricultural infrastructure such as the degree of economic development, character of the region and population, characteristics of agriculture and rural areas, climate or water management situations, and agriculture development demands of that country. The efforts for localization of development cooperation programs increase the possiblity of success in individual aid projects for a recipient country.

 

Education is key to development and cooperation. It is the very basis of human development and critical to social and economic development. Education is also a powerful driver for Millenium Development Goals such as poverty reduction and sustainable economic development. Accordingly, there have been concerted efforts to support the Education for All Initiative by the international community over the last two decades.
Following this international trend, the Korean government has put greater emphasis on education ODA than other types of ODA. As of 2012, aid for education is the second largest (17.9%) among various types of ODA financed by the government. As Korea increased the amount of its ODA upon becoming a member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee in 2010, the amount of education ODA has been rising rapidly. Unfortunately, there are some problems that prevent the government from maximizing the increase of education ODA. For instance, there is little coordination among education ODA related institutions such as KOICA and EDCF; not to mention a shortage of Korean experts in education ODA.
This study aims to present the goals and strategies of Korea's educational development and cooperation plan. For this purpose, it has first reviewed the relationship between education and development and also investigated the role education has played in development. In addition, the study has analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the education ODA programs in Korea. It has also examined the best practices of major OECD/DAC member countries (USA, Japan, Australia, and Germany) and multilateral donor organizations such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Based on the findings of the study, it set forward an educational development and cooperation plan of Korea. The idea is that the Korean government would help developing countries improve its developmental capacity through effective education ODA strategies. To realize this vision, the government should emphasize the effectiveness, expertise, and accountability of education ODA policies. In addition, it should reform education ODA-related policies in the following way. First, the government should determine the target region and priorities of education ODA programs strategically, based on its education ODA policy-related experiences and strengths. Second, it should make the implementation of education ODA programs efficient with following strategies: 1) systematic investigation of the demand of developing countries for education ODA; 2) the combined education hardware and software support program; and 3) integrated support of education ODA grants and loans. Third, the government should strengthen the partnership with international development agencies and also increase public-private partnership programs. Fourth, it should build the infrastructure for education ODA by 1) establishing an Educational Development and Cooperation Committee; 2) increasing the budget for education ODA; and 3) creating the HRD programs for education ODA. Lastly, the government should enhance the outcomes of education ODA programs by 1) building the database of education ODA; and 2) improving the monitoring and evaluating process of ODA programs.
Based on these findings, the study presents five new education ODA programs. Three criteria are chosen in developing these programs. First, the program should address the educational needs which have not been met so far in spite of concerted efforts by international communities since the 1990s. Second, it should help maximize the strength of Korea’s education ODA capacity and help minimize its weakness. Third, the program should promote cooperation between Korea and multi-donor agencies or development-related private sectors. The programs selected based on these criteria include: 1) The GPE(Global Partnership for Education) trust fund program; 2) Employment-linked Public Private Partnership Vocational Education and Training Program; 3) Korea Development Scholarship Program, 4) Korea-UNESCO IICBA ICT Training Program; and 5) Korea-ADB Education ODA Expert Program.

The Chinese distribution market has been rapidly increased in its importance and status in the world distribution market with its steady growth for the past 20 year, and it is predicted to provide the good business opportunity to foreign distribution companies as well according to the outlook on the domestic market expansion. Particularly, the Chinese retail market is an attractive market in that it provides a new market to the retail businesses of Korea which is suffering hardships due to the saturated domestic retail market and the government regulations.
Meanwhile, with the retail market environment of the coastal big cities in China getting worse due to intensifying competition and market saturation, etc. caused by the increase both in rental cost and in labor costs, the shortage of manpower, and entries of many foreign-invested retailers, increasing are the cases where multinational retail companies, which entered this region before including Carrefour, E-mart and best buy stores, etc., reduce the number of stores or close their stores. On the contrary, the foreign-invested retailers are recently showing an increasing trend for market expansion into the inland market because consumer market growth, good competitive environment & manpower supply in the inland region. Particularly, the consumer market of the central inland region in China is overall showing a rapid growth based on fast economic development, the multinational retail companies, such as the US Wal-Mart, Swedish IKEA, Japanese Uniqlo and MUJI, ZARA in Spain and H&M in Sweden, are making inroads into this region in succession.
However,  the situation is calling for a close survey on these regions in 6 central provinces in China because the retail market environment and characteristics of retailers in each region of the 6 provinces differ from one another. Hereupon, this study is intending to seek the market expansion strategy of the Korean retail companies and our government support measures by grasping the size of the retail market, major retail formats, distribution of major consumption cities in 6 provinces, influence & characteristics of the local retailers who have a high hold on the local retail markets, and the present situation and strategies of the foreign retail companies' entry into the central provinces retail market.  
For this purpose, this study is going to draw the entry strategies into the chinese retail market for our retail businesses by making an comparative analysis of the current status of the foreign-invested retail companies which already entered the central provinces and the competitive situation between foreign retailers and local retailers, and for practicality enhancement of the research results, this study is intending to suggest the suitable market access strategy respectively by dividing our retail companies into a large one and small& medium one, and subdividing the market entry strategies into the access strategy and management strategy.