S. Korea, OECD launch joint research programs on financial issues

SEOUL, South Korea and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have launched a multiyear joint research project on budgeting and other financial issues in the face of low birth rate and rapid aging as common global challenges, Seoul's finance ministry said Tuesday. South Korea's Second Vice Finance Minister Kim Yoon-sang and the OECD's Deputy Secretary-General Yoshiki Takeuchi attended a ceremony to mark the launch of the joint international studies held in Paris on Monday (France time), according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The two sides will begin joint studies this year on a wide range of financial issues focusing on ways of ensuring the financial sustainability of member nations, and details of the yearslong project will be adjusted as it proceeds. During the ceremony, Kim stressed the need for joint studies on how to boost the efficiency of public finance when countries are facing rising national debt and demographic changes as major challenges. "Kim and Takeuchi held a separate meeting and discussed major policy measures on OECD member nations' low birth rate and aging. They also agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation on finance and other issues," the ministry said in a release. Kim is in France for a five-day trip from Sunday for talks with officials of the OECD and the French government to deepen financial and economic cooperative relations. Source: Yonhap News Agency