Belarus looks to emulate Korea's public administration

(reposted)



Anatoly N. Morozevich



Belarus looks to emulate Korea’s public administration

By Park Si-soo/ The Korea Times/ 10-25-2011 17:48

 

Belarus is a young country. The country’s independence from the Soviet Union is only 20 years old but its governing system is still under development.

The European state recently found a model state to follow in Asia: South Korea. And it is making great efforts to emulate everything from Korea’s public administration to economic policies.

“Belarus is a pearl in a shell,” said Anatoly N. Morozevich, president of the Academy of Public Administration under the Aegis of the President of Belarus. “We want to open the shell with help from Korea and show the pearl to the outside world.” 

Anatoly, a close aide to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, is now visiting Seoul at the invitation of the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA).

During his stay through Friday, he plans to visit the Center Officials Training Institute (COTI), the Prime Minister’s Office and other state agencies to learn Korea’s public administration, disaster control and training programs for public servants.

Morozevich paid particular attention to Korea’s e-governance system.

“Bureaucrats are no longer important. Every person makes mistakes, but the system makes less,” he said. “It will help cut red tape and save time. It also forms a comfortable environment for people to pay tax or handle other administrative affairs on the Internet.”

He said the e-governance system, if adopted in Belarus, will open a new chapter in state administration in his country whose territory is twice bigger than South Korea but its population is one fifth of Korea’s.

Korea’s homegrown e-governance system ranked top out of 192 contenders in an assessment by the United Nations last year. The Korean government has earned more than $150 million by exporting the system.

“Korea is the world’s leader in e-governance, to which world’s experts agree,” he said.

Korea’s growth model is another key topic his academy is studying seriously.

“We’ve witnessed Korea’s rapid growth over the past six decades. It deserves great respect,” Morozevich said. “With Korea’s help, I hope Belarus could earn the same success in the short period of time.”

His academy is working with the KIPA to translate an English-written book, titled “Korea: From Rags to Riches,” into Russian.

The 540-page book, edited with the special 60-article-series to mark the 60th anniversary of The Korea Times last year, comprehensively describes Korea’s dramatic rise from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War to one of the world’s leading economies.

“I think the book will help us know about the recipe for Korea’s dramatic economic development,” he said.

He called on Korean business leaders to invest in his country, saying Belarus has a legal system favorable to foreign investment and stable social security.# pss@koreatimes.co.kr