Ownership and planning capacity in the Asian-style development cooperation: South korean knowledge sharing program to Vietnam

Abstract

The rise of Asian ODA donors – Japan, South Korea, China – and their divergence from traditional western donors put forward the question if a distinct Asian-style development cooperation is in the making. In this paper, we attempt to characterize the emergent Asian-style ODA based on donors’ own development experiences and assess its effectiveness in terms of fostering “true” ownership of development partners. One particular case, South Korea’s Knowledge Sharing Program to Vietnam, will illuminate the theoretical issues and practical challenges of the Asian-style ODA, which tends to avoid “political interference” while trying to increase capacities of development partners.