The enormous potential for growth possessed by Southeast Asia, widely touted as the next rising market, has not gone unnoticed by the international community. Eleven states including ten member states of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) plus East Timor comprise the region; with much social, cultural, political, and economic diversity; as well as variations in sizes of their respective economies and levels of development. The region also faces challenges regarding development including income gaps, human development, industrialization, and expansion of infrastructure. There are movements to bolster efforts to achieve economic integration, with the goal of integrating the entire ASEAN community by 2015. There are also challenges most notably on the reduction of the development gap between CLMV countries and the others in ASEAN.
The Korean government has made reduction of poverty and development gaps in the region its priority, and has worked hard to resolve these issues through such channels as the New Asian Diplomacy, the ASEAN - Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit, and the Korea-Mekong Foreign Ministers Meeting. However, an effective utilization of limited developmental finances requires a systematic and comprehensive approach to aid; centered on ‘priority countries’ and areas for cooperation; in order to raise the effectiveness of Korean ODA policy. Accordingly, this study undertook a quantitative analysis of developmental needs of Southeast Asia, identifying areas with higher levels of need for development, and suggests measures for implementing programs for cooperation accordingly.
The five Southeast Asian countries analyzed in connection to development cooperation include two countries at the early stage of development (Cambodia, East Timor) and three middle-tier countries (Vietnam, Indonesia, and Philippines). These countries were designated as priority countries for development cooperation, all selected on the basis of their high potential for economic growth and developmental needs. Important indicators such as the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum, the Environmental Performance Index, and the FAO Agricultural Index were utilized in calculating the development gap between the subject countries and states in higher levels of development. The calculated results were then used to evaluate the needs of the recipient countries and Korea's aid capacity.
The analysis of development needs by country using the above framework revealed that, any differences between the subject countries were slight. Instead, the subject countries were in great need of development in economic infrastructure, education/training, technology and ICT. This had a lot to do with the fact that most pressing need for development needed was in infrastructure such as transportation, energy,  and communication, which is a common theme that shows up regarding developing countries. Concomitantly, this means that economic infrastructure should be given precedence in Korea's development projects in the region.
Yet construction-heavy projects undertaken at the request of recipient states often produces negative effects that must be shored up by increasing the number of participants and scope of aid; through action such as integration of credits/grants and public-private partnerships. Assistance in areas where Korea possesses a comparative advantage as education/training, technology and ICT; should be given serious consideration. Korea could also take advantage of its experience in green growth and green technologies, by providing assistance in climate control and environmental protection. In addition, with agriculture being an area where Korea was found to have a great deal of aid capacity, it could play a very significant  role in boosting agricultural production in Southeast Asian countries.
This paper is largely based on the quantitative analysis of the countries and areas of assistance; and focuses on Korean assistance toward Southeast Asia in four areas including agriculture/rural development, infrastructure, education, and climate change/environment.
In agriculture and rural development, Korea should formulate a package program for cooperation with strong links between different projects, within a framework of an overall, mid-to-long-term rural development plan. It should be based on Korea's advanced agricultural technology and development experience and with active utilization of regional cooperative bodies in Southeast Asia.
Second, the demand for develop was found to be the highest in infrastructure and regional development, which would require building an operational plan based on strategic packaging of projects. This necessitates policy approach that incorporates dialogue, loans, technology cooperation, private sector knowhow and utilization of funds; and creates an urgent need for a feasibility study tailored to EDCF projects and a system for follow-up management.
Third, since human resource development has been one of great issues for achieving ASEAN community by 2015, Korea can contribute to making up for what ASEAN lacks such as training skilled labors and upgrading education system, which should be aligned with those by other international donors.
Fourth, climate change/environment represent an area where Korean technology and experience can come into active play. This can be put to good use in increasing assistance to Southeast Asian countries through  programs in environmental protection/climate change suited to their respective levels of development.
This study is a significant one in that it was able to identify the main areas for development cooperation by analyzing quantitatively the economic circumstances and development gaps in Southeast Asia  It also revealed the inability of quantitative analysis to reflect the characteristics of each country and provide a detailed description of the development capacity of recipient states. The challenge for the future will include building a more systematic analytical model by factoring in analysis of Korea's comparative advantages that can contribute to the reduction of development gaps with respect to the recipient states.

 

In recent years, the relatively high incomes achieved by countries in Latin America have ruled them out as partners for development cooperation. However, 30% of its population still lives under the poverty level, while both income disparity and rural-urban disparity remain high, which point to a high demand for development cooperation. Therefore this study conducted a quantitative analysis to identify priority sectors and suggest sectoral plans for the official development aid (ODA) toward Latin American countries.
This study is composed of six chapters. Following the introductory chapter, chapter two analyzes the environment for development cooperation of the Latin American region. For more effective analysis, we take into consideration the region's political and economic situation, progress in MDG(Millenium Development Goals) and related achievements, and possible benefits for the region. Lastly, based on this analysis, environment of the development cooperation of the region.
In chapter three is a quantitative analysis of the aid demand of the region. Out of thirty-three Latin American countries, seven countries are selected as priority countries for cooperation including El Salvador, Honduras, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia. Among these seven countries, four of them(El Salvador, Honduras, Paraguay, Bolivia) are lower-middle income countries and the other three countries(Ecuador, Peru, Colombia) belong to upper-middle income category. Major development indicators of the seven countries are compared with those of higher-income countries and this gap is defined as aid demand. Also the indicator gap between Korea and the said countries are accounted for in order to assess the feasibility of the development aid. Based on these demands and  feasibility, priority sectors selected are infrastructure, environment, education and ICT. Among these four sectors, sectoral analysis is conducted in the following chapter for three sectors with the exception of infrastructure, as the infrastructure sector requires huge capital and it is sometimes not appropriate for the development aid as it involves complex economic interests. In education, vocational training is selected as the priority sector as demand for this sector is relatively high within the region.
In chapter four, three priority sectors out of the four mentioned in chapter three were examined in detail in terms of its cooperation status and its implications. In particular, this chapter probes the national development plans of the seven countries in order to examine their demand for development cooperation in environment, vocational training, and ICT sector and thereby proposes some policy implications for Korea.
Chapter five scrutinizes the major projects that Korea worked on in the priority sectors, including performance and the problems.
Finally, chapter six makes some suggestions in environment, vocational training, and ICT sectors in order to promote development cooperation. In the environmental sector: ① enhancement of the country's image in environment ODA ② educational programs for environment protection and the diversification of supporting areas ③ expansion of cooperation with the regional development banks ④ triangular cooperation are suggested. As for the vocational training sector: ① more active vocational training in the donor country's strategic industries ② foundation of Korea-Chile industrial technology training center ③ empowerment of the teachers in vocational training ④ cooperation between companies and aid agencies ⑤ collaboration with the regional development banks of the region are suggested. Lastly, in the ICT sector: ① foundation of Korea-Latin America ICT cooperation forum and fund raising ② establishment of ICT R&D Think Tank Initiative in Latin America ③ Korea-Latin America industrial cooperation on ICT Convergence ④ taking the initiative in the Forum for East Asia-Latin American Cooperation (FEALAC) ICT cooperation program are proposed.

 

 

This study explores the formation and the characteristics of Latin American elites focusing on Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Chile. The reason why these four countries have been chosen for the study is not because they represent the region but because they are relatively the most significant countries in terms of their relation with Korea.  Therefore, what we found in this study regarding the formation and the characteristics of the elites are not duplicable to the other Latin American countries. Considering the importance of the topic as well as the diverse context of Latin America, the further research on elites in other Latin American countries will be important to foster more complex and comprehensive understanding of the elites in Latin America.
This study does not aim at establishing a new theory on Latin American elites. Rather, it practically approaches to the subject of elites in order to contribute to better relations between Latin America and Korea since the elites are such an important social actors. As a result, this study turns out to differ from recent development of elite studies literature which focuses on analyzing the impact of conflicts or cooperation among the elites on democratization process. 
Each case study shares the following structure. First, it analyzes the elite formation process. In order to comprehend the characteristics of the elites, the elite formation process is an important element to look at. The elite formation process is not just a simple historical fact yet it proves to determine the characteristics of today’s elites. Various historical factors such as the strength of colonial power, the role of local elites in independence, the existence of powerful regional elites in the process of nation building, the power of rural elites, the degree of diversification of elites result in different characteristics of elites in each country. Therefore, looking at the elite formation with emphasis on significant historical events, we tried to deepen our understanding of the characteristics of elites in each case. 
Second, we examine various sectors of the elite structure. As mentioned before, due to different historical formation, different sector of the elite in each country has different level of power. For example, in Chile and Peru, economic elites have stronger power among others, while political elites are relatively more predominant in Mexico and Brazil. Furthermore, when Mexico and Brazil, whose size  is rather big among Latin American countries, tend to have stronger local elites such as governors, relatively smaller countries in this study such as Peru and Chile turn out to form stronger elite concentration around each capital, Lima and Santiago, respectively. In Peru, the military elite maintains its power to some extent while in Mexico the military does not form a part of power elite because of institutionalization of social conflicts. Chile, which appears to have a strongly unified elites, tends to have powerful media elites which play a major role in national politics with its economic as well as political power. However, Peruvian as well as Brazilian media did not grow into such power. In case of religious elites, Peru and Chile where the society in general is socially conservative posses relatively more powerful religious elites than Mexico and Brazil.
Such diversity in Latin American elites led us to focus this study on specific elite groups depending on each country’s context instead of researching same groups in each case. Political elites and economic elites were commonly discussed in each case while military elites, media elites and religious elites were chosen depending on its significance in the case. This approach is appropriate for the study because its purpose is to explore the characteristics of those who have power in the policy making process from power elite perspective.
Finally, this study surveys how elites act to realize their interests. We analyzed Chilean case, which seems to have unified elites, in terms of how the unity could be maintains by looking at their recruiting methods, their religious conservatism, and their strategy of alliance. In Peruvian case, this study scrutinizes the power relations among principal elite groups such as economic elites, political elites and military elites. In addition, the interactions among the elites were carefully analyzed in order to verify their style of governing. Meanwhile, Brazilian case, where we can find rather more diversified elites, gave us insights on how power has been shared among different sectors of elites. Mexico, which also appears to have a more diversified elites, elucidates how different sectors of elites could acquire governance by internal integration.
As a result, this study contributes to more comprehensive understanding of Latin American elites by looking at their historical formation process, their characteristics as well as current status of their power structure. Therefore, this study offers a base for future researches on Latin American elites as well as politics of the region in general.  It also provides a practical knowledge on the elites in Latin America who play a significant role in the relation between Korea and Latin America. 

The purpose of this study is to analyze the investment environment of Brazil's northeast region which has received a great deal of attention recently for its potential. Suggestions are made for Korean companies seeking to expand investment.

This report consists of six chapters as follows:
The study begins with an introductory chapter, followed by chapter two that provides an outline of the economy of the northeast region of Brazil from four different perspectives: geographic, economic, industrial and trade structure.
In chapter three, the investment environment of the region is closely analyzed, with focus on the government's investment promotion policy and its system, labor market, infrastructure, and market potential.
Chapter four looks into the current situation regarding the expansion of foreign companies into this region and their strategy. In particular, companies from China, Japan, and France are closely examined; eliciting implications for Korean companies.
Chapter five introduces promising businesses with good prospects for success. These businesses were discovered after an in-depth analysis of the diverse development plans for the region, such as the Regional Development Plan for the Northeast Region (PRDN), PAC-2(Growth Acceleration Program 2), and those plans related to the 2014 World Cup.
Lastly, in chapter six, analyses in previous chapters are combined and provides suggestions for Korean companies seeking to make inroads into Brazil's northeast region. This chapter develops a SWOT analysis on the investment environment of this region after examining the state of Korean investment in Brazil and investor performance. Some practical measures are also suggested at the corporate and government level.
Suggestions at the corporate level include: ① entry strategy based on classification of investment purposes ② active participation in government projects ③ diversification of investment regions ④ expansion strategy tailored to regional characteristics and ⑤ collaboration with local companies. As for suggestions at the government level, they include: ① enhancement of institutional cooperation with local governments ② expansion of Knowledge Sharing Programs (KSP) ③ establishment of the Korea-Brazil economic cooperation center ④creation of exclusive industrial complex for Korean companies.

This study analyzes Myanmar’s external economic relations that has been changing rapidly since the new government came into power in 2011. It specifically considers two topics. The first is the easing of Western sanctions on Myanmar and the second examines how major countries have responded to Myanmar’s unexpectedeconomic and political reforms. By systematically analyzing the fast-changing external economic environment of Myanmar, a country now considered the last frontier of Asia, this study aims to provide detailed information and policy implications on Myanmar’s transition.
US sanctions on Myanmar have been eased substantially as a response to Myanmar’s political liberalization and as an inducement for further reform. Sanctions in most sectors, except GSP withdrawal and arms embargo, have been eased or suspended to a great extent. Yet the current easing of sanctions is the result of presidential waivers all basic legislations on sanctions on Myanmar remain intact. Therefore, there is a technical possibility that sanctions can be swiftly restored should reforms in Myanmar backslide or a major political catastrophe occurs. The US used to maintain a comprehensive sanctions regime on Myanmar but now it is moving toward a targeted sanctions regime based on Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. As SDN is emerging as an important framework for economic cooperation with Myanmar, governments and businesses will need serious risk assessments when engaging in bilateral cooperation or business transactions involving the country. The suspension of the import ban and investment restrictions by the US presents an unprecedented economic opportunity for Myanmar and foreign investors, but the nuances and technical details of the new sanctions regime call for attention to its remaining restrictions and related business risks. For its part, EU has suspended all the sanctions except the arms embargo on Myanmar and offered development assistance with focus on health, education and peace.
Although the dominant position of China in Myanmar has been challenged, China is and will continue to be one of its most important trade partners, investors and aid donors. China is expected to continue its numerous infrastructure and development projects across the country although its modus operandi will have to adapt to new political sensitivities of the Myanmar government as well as public scrutiny. It will also have to face international competitionin natural resource development, infrastructural development, foreign aid, and market share for consumer goods. Japan, on the other, has been engaging Myanmar most aggressively since the reform, with offers of sizable debt relief and foreign aid. It has already achieved early successes in securing infrastructure development deals with Myanmar and is emerging as one of the most significant donors for the country. Moving to ASEAN countries, neighboring Thailand has been aggressively pursuing joint development projects and investment with Myanmar along its border. Singapore, Myanmar’s important regional ally, has proposed government capacity and human capital development as its area of specialization for assistance.
Korean government and businesses need to adapt to the new US sanctions regime. It also needs to find ways to partner with China and Japan in large-scale infrastructure development projects and in the energy sector. For development assistance, Korea will need to identify sectors and methods for concentration to best serve Myanmar’s pressing development goals while not straining Myanmar’s scarce human and government resources.

Mozambique is one of the fastest growing country in Africa, with the average annual growth rate of 7.7% since 2000. The country’s recent economic growth has mainly been fueled by the improvement in political stability and the discovery of vast reservoirs of mineral resources, which in turn have attracted a huge influx of foreign investment and thus developed extractive industries.
However, Mozambique’s gross domestic product per capita ($586 in 2011) is low and poverty rates remain still high (54.7% in 2009). The country also suffers from the insufficient infrastructure and low agricultural productivity. The Mozambican government has recently undertaken a number of infrastructure projects including power plant and power grid construction, in order to generate sufficient electricity not only for its homeland but also for its neighbours (Southern African Power Pool). With regard to agricultural development, the government has intensively focused on improving extension service, agricultural finance support facilities, and rural infrastructure so as to increase agricultural productivity. 
Given the above, this study is initiated by the idea that there would be great potential for industrial cooperation between Korea and Mozambique in filling Mozambique’s energy and food gap to the extent that Korea has extensive experience in building electric power infrastructure and increasing agricultural productivity. Hence, the purpose of this study is to analyze Mozambique’s two major industries - electric power and agribusiness industries, and to provide suggestions for Korean investors on doing business in Mozambique. The suggestions for strengthening bilateral industrial cooperation in these sectors are as follows.
First, harnessing Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement would be an option for Korean investors since Mozambique’s agribusiness is one of the major sectors to promote bilateral cooperation, selected by the Korean government. Second, forming consortium with multinational firms might allow Korean investors to share the burden and risk while compensating for their lack of capital and technology. Finally, this study concludes by suggesting promising sub-sectors of the industries: construction of power plant and power grid as well as agricultural market entry with the specialization in high value-added rice and poultry products.

This working paper has several objectives: to examine current economic situations and industrial structures in Jordan, to analyze significant and promising industries in Jordan and to provide some suggestions for Korean companies. Specifically, this paper concentrates on electric power and healthcare, respectively the foundation for economic growth and one of the most rapidly growing industries in Jordan.
Jordan is perhaps the best location to establish a foothold for entering the Levant region that includes Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. As a crossroad between the Gulf, North Africa, and the eastern Mediterranean, Jordan serves as the logistics hub for the regions. Jordan is ranked the 3rd freest out of 15 Middle Eastern and North African countries, behind only Bahrain and Qatar in 2012 by virtue of its economic openness and socio-political stability. Moreover, as the income of Levant countries grow, the import demand in the region, in particular for appliances and used cars, also increase.
These are core goals of the electric power industry in Jordan, an oil-importing country: to secure more stable sources of energy, and to increase the energy self-sufficiency rate. In order to achieve those goals, the government of Jordan (GOJ)launched new power plant projects including wind power, solar energy, oil shale, and nuclear energy. The GOJ is also making efforts to attract foreign and private investment in independent power producers and private power plants. It is necessary for Korea’s electric power and construction companies to build business strategies on the basis of their award-winning experiences and to examine thoroughly the market trend in Jordan as well as economic and political uncertainties in the region.
Medical tourism is the most promising sector in Jordan’s healthcare industry. Socio-political stability as well as high quality of doctors and nurses attracted 180,000 international patients and the medical tourism revenue exceeded 750 million dollars in 2011. In order to attract more international patients, the GOJ reformed immigration procedures for international patients, established a medical tourism directorate in the Ministry of Health, and launched projects for hospital construction and renovation. In addition, domestic demand for medical services and institutions increased as both the population and life expectancy increased in Jordan. Given that medical institution construction gives rise to arrangements for medical devices and vice versa, it is a chance for Korea’s companies not only to construct medical institutions but also to export medical devices, particularly dental devices.

In his address marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea in 2008, President Lee Myung-bak declared ‘Low Carbon Green Growth’ as the country’s new vision to lead the country’s development for the next decades. Since then Korea has taken active measures to combat climate change on both legislative and executive front. A number of ‘green’ measures have an impact on trade and may thus be subject to global trade rules administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
This study examines Korea’s green measures - relevant laws, regulations, and programs - from the perspective of WTO law, and explores possible ways of harmonization of the green growth policy with multilateral trade disciplines. The concept of harmonization within the meaning of this study has both internal and external aspects. More specifically, the authors first considered the harmonization at an internal level and suggested that Korea ensure WTO-consistency of its domestic green measures. For this purpose, they examined green measures in three domestic policy areas, such as market opening, industrial subsidies, and technical barriers to trade. Then, they proceeded to see how the global climate regime and the multilateral trade regime could be harmonized on an international plane, and what Korea’s contribution to this process should be.
With respect to the market opening policy, the authors considered, inter alia, GATT-based implications of a carbon tax, import restrictions arising from the emissions trading system and the Bonus-Malus system for car purchasers - the measures that are not currently applied in Korea, but are used by other countries. As for the industrial support policy, Korea’s green subsidies have not yet been complained of in WTO disputes, but were targeted by US countervailing measures - something that should be paid attention to by Korean policy-makers when designing green incentive schemes for domestic producers. As far as technical regulations and standards are concerned, a few WTO members have raised specific trade concerns in the TBT Committee in relation to some Korean green measures.
With respect to the external harmonization issue, the authors focused on two approaches, such as ‘greening’ the WTO and making the global climate regime more ‘WTO-friendly’. In order for the WTO to become more ‘environment-friendly’, the current Doha negotiations on trade and environment should be successfully completed. The authors here proposed that Korea put forward the idea of plurilateral negotiations in the WTO based on APEC’s initiatives on trade and environment. Korea could also initiate discussion among WTO members aimed at rendering climate change subsidies non-actionable under current WTO subsidy disciplines. Moreover, the authors suggested that the Korean government establish environmental impact assessments for its trade treaties so as to ensure that, inter alia, WTO agreements entered into by Korea reflect environmental concerns. In this way, Korea could have an indirect influence on the greening of the WTO. Finally, with a view to making the global climate regime more WTO-friendly, Korea should support a proposal of several countries to discuss within the UNFCCC framework the impact of climate-related response measures on trade, but oppose the idea of introducing a total ban on unilateral response measures. Such a ban would come into conflict with the GATT general exception clause (Article XX) - a WTO provision that can be invoked to justify environment protection measures.

 

Within the context of historical and socio-economic complexities and implications, this study aims to deal with land issues in South Africa, which have been a major point of debate since the middle of the 17th century when the white settlers’ contact with indigenous peoples was formally initiated. Against this background, first, the current study focused on examining the perceptions and practices of peoples concerning the land uses and values in South Africa. Second, it covered the land tenure system during the pre-colonial period as well as the processes of European settlers’ land plunder since the middle of the 17th century. Third, it examined a number of negative aspects of land policy during the Apartheid era (1948-1993). Since the demise of Apartheid system, finally, it explored the ANC-led government land policy from the onset of the post-Apartheid epoch to the present.
Since the 17th century, South Africa was placed into the influence of white minority settlers and the British imperialists, who made the indigenous peoples dominated and degraded with being deprived of land rights. As noted, the history of land in South Africa has been marred by the domination and exploitation caused by the white settlers. This implies that the history of colonial rule and land dispossession should become a focal point of land issues in South Africa.
Once the National Party (NP) supported by the Dutch origins was at the helm of South African government in 1948, the white regime institutionally installed land private tenure rights, which created a fundamental transformation of relationships between the indigenous Bantu peoples and the whites with causing the destructive and harmful situations for the black societies. The Apartheid regime established and implemented legislation for denying the ownership rights of black people. As a result of the enactment of the Native’s Land Act of 1913, the black had to move from their land to the reserved area called Bantustan. Moreover, this caused the distorted land situations in which the white minority only accounting for less than 15% occupied more than 70% of the entire land in South Africa.
After the end of the Apartheid period, the new South African government facilitated the market-led land reform programs. Given the programs sought to correct the injustice of land redistribution, reduce the poverty, contribute to the sustainable uses and development of land and economy and set up a balanced and equitable land tenure rights, they were initially treated as an ambitious and proper approach to the land problems in South Africa. However, the post-Apartheid government has been confronted with a number of difficulties while protecting the legacy of traditional land system. In this context, the various land policies of the post-Apartheid era can be characterized by failure, ambivalence, ambiguity, dilemma and inconsistency. This shows that South Africa has failed to eradicate the old and deep-rooted Apartheid legacy.
Livelihood based on land remains the significant matter for people in both rural and urban areas. In the midst of high rate of unemployment and unstable income conditions, many people in South Africa are placed to rely on land for guaranteeing food security and their sources of income through the agrarian productivity. This means that the government’s land policies and programs for reducing poverty should be treated as one of the primary goals in socioeconomic terms in the post-Apartheid epoch.
Currently, meanwhile, the land reform issues have become more prominent than ever. The issues retain always emotional and symbolical aspects in the national debate for the past and the future. Similarly, some proponents supporting and protecting the indigenous land system have asserted that the system has intrinsically ecological and cultural values beyond the economic benefits. Thus, the government has been demanded of reconsidering the meaning and value of cultural features as well as economic ones in dealing with the land policy. Additionally, the government should provide farmers a substantial access to land which is mainly approached by them for the purpose of making a living. Moreover, some government policies for the future are supposed to protect and enhance the flexibility and freedom of choice for the individual.
Under the circumstances, the main purpose of land reform in South Africa should be highlighted within the equitable land rights and redistribution. The problem is that the South African citizens, particularly Afrikaners who are the large-scale farmers and the Bantu people who are mostly peasant proprietors, tend to have a strong attachment for land. In the post-Apartheid era, South Africa has implemented a multi-faceted program of land reform to address problems of historical dispossession and rural poverty, relying heavily on the principle of ‘willing buyer, willing seller.’ This version of market-led agrarian reform has been influenced by the World Bank but enjoys support from landowners and elements within the ruling ANC committed to maintaining the structure of large-scale, capital-intensive farming.
The focal point of the slow pace of land reform is considered as the potential element of conflict in South Africa. In fact, 18 years since apartheid ended, a derisory 4% of white-owned farmland has been redistributed, mainly bought from white landowners willing to sell at prevailing market prices. The rate of land transfer remains far below official targets which would be expected to take about 60 years to resolve the land disputes. This suggests that it has a potential conflict to be exploded with making little positive impact on livelihoods or on the wider rural economy.

 

All Central Asian countries have the distinction of being landlocked. This twist of geographical fate, unfortunately, has become the source of the many regional political, social, and economic problems facing the region. In particular, the economic problems have become significant obstacles to the development of Central Asian countries and the economic activities of their populations. For example, land transportation must be made via roads and rails through the territory of neighboring countries. The stable supply of energy, which is essential for economic development and people’s survival, often depends on the good will and cooperation of adjacent countries through which pipelines that supply the oil and natural gas pass through. Generally, construction of these pipelines require much investment and long-term planning. However, these underdeveloped economies often do not have enough money to invest in infrastructures and energy transportation routes. In this respect, they are suffering from geoeconomic problems as a result of being landlocked.
In addition, being landlocked makes these inland countries dependent on adjacent major powers economically and politically, as they can conduct trade with other countries only through their powerful neighbors and cannot help but be influenced by them. Central Asian countries, previously dependent economically on Russia during the Soviet era, are now dependent on China. This trend will likely continue in the medium term.
This implies that Central Asian countries must cooperate among themselves because they will not be able to overcome the problems of being landlocked without mutual cooperation. Therefore, various regional organizations for economic and political cooperation were established among Central Asian countries.
For example, there is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO), Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) and the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC), among others. These organizations have various purposes and forms. However, their common goal is to solve their immediate problems and to overcome common obstacles in regional cooperation.
This study focuses on the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) in particular. CAREC works is arguably the most active among the regional cooperation organizations in Central Asia. CAREC, established in 1997, is made up of 10 member states and 6 multilateral organizations. The 10 member states include Central Asian states like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan: along with China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Six multilateral organizations are: the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), UNDP and World Bank. The ADB works as the secretariat of CAREC. The number and scale of CAREC projects increased very much during the 10 years from 2001 to 2011. There were only six CAREC projects involving about USD 200 million in 2001, but the figures increased to about 100 projects and USD 17 billion by 2011.
The dominant sectors in CAREC projects include transport, energy, and trade facilitation sectors. These sectors represent an urgent necessity not only for the development of individual CAREC members but also for the development of Central Asia as a whole. The main portion of CAREC projects are in the transport sector. Among the total investment amount of USD 17 billion, 12 billion went to the transport sector, whereas the energy and trade facilitation sectors received only USD 3.2 billion and USD 2.2 billion, respectively. Various CAREC projects are currently being implemented, but the targeted goals of CAREC can be achieved only if relevant institutional and administrative problems are resolved, and the quality of economic life for the people of Central Asia would be greatly improved. Until now, the most important outcome institutionally is the establishment of regular meetings of the related officials of CAREC member states. These regular meetings allow the related officials to engage in earnest discussion of their common problems, not to mention reinforce cooperation.
Several Korean companies have already participated in CAREC projects for road construction, construction inspection and etc. For the future, prospective CAREC projects include power grid construction, renewable energy, and energy efficiency in the energy sector. In trade facilitation, it is necessary to utilize the Official Development Aid as a participation strategy, or participate together with other multilateral organizations in CAREC projects.