The opening Plenary, titled “Progress Since Paris : How Far Have We Come?,” takes place at Bexco, Busan, on November 29, marking the start of the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4), which will continue through December 1 with the participants seeking a new paradigm for international development cooperation.

Vice Foreign Minister Min Dong-seok delivers the opening speech at the Plenary to highlight the significance of the Busan Forum in building a new global partnership to realize “beyond-aid development.” He then requests strong support from some 3,000 participants, including delegates from the governments of 160-odd countries, about 70 international organizations and parliaments. 

The major discussants of the Plenary include Administrator of the UN Development Programme Hellen Clark; Chairman of the OECD/Development Assistance Committee Brian Atwood; Deputy Minister of Mozambique Amelia Nakhara; Deputy Executive Director of the Global Fund Debrework Zewdie; Director-General of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) Peter Baxter; and Coordinator of the Reality of Aid Network Vitalice Meja.

Following the Plenary, five Thematic Sessions review progress in implementing the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action, with another five on ways to shift the focus of development discussions from aid effectiveness to development effectiveness.

The topics of the ten Thematic Sessions are: Ownership and Accountability; Recipient Country Systems; Aid Fragmentation; Aid Predictability and Transparency; Developmental Results of Aid; Capacity Development; Rights-based Approaches; Fragility, Conflict, and Vulnerability; South-South and Triangular co-operation; and Public-Private Cooperation.

In the Plenary and Thematic Sessions on November 29, the participants comprehensively review the progress in development cooperation and discuss its future direction, the outcome of which is expected to serve as the foundation of a new global partnership to be built at the Ministerial Sessions set for November 30 and December 1.