• KDI Economic Outlook: Update 2026.08
• 2026 International Conference on Economic Education
• Video Report: Rebuilding Scale-up Support Policies
• WB-KDI GKEDC Capacity Building Program on Reforming SOEs

Rethinking Economic Education for the AGI Era: 2026 International Conference on Economic Education

On July 22–23, the Ministry of Finance and Economy and KDI co-hosted the "2026 International Conference on Economic Education," drawing around 300 participants under the theme "Reconstructing Economic Education in the AGI Era." Setting the tone was a keynote by Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin, Deputy Head of the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), who noted that generative AI can improve students' problem-solving and creative writing in the short term, but also carries limitations that can erode collective originality. He pointed to research on "Tutor CoPilot" showing how AI support can help less experienced teachers give students effective real-time feedback, and proposed using an AI-generated dataset on international student mobility to teach demand, supply, and price dynamics. The keynote framed the international discussion that followed among educators from the United States, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and Korea.

That vision took concrete shape in sessions on applying AI in the field, from a talk on investment-era financial literacy by Oh Keonyoung of Shinhan Premier Pathfinder to parallel tracks of classroom and edtech case studies, closing with a special lecture on active learning by Taejae University President Yeom Jaeho. Spanning perspectives from global research to Korean classrooms, the two-day conference reflected a shared push to embed AI thoughtfully into the future of economic education.

Why do so many Korean firms lose momentum just as they should be scaling up? This video shows that high-growth firms drive about half of Korea's revenue growth and almost 40 percent of job creation, yet their share among mid-stage firms has fallen from 14.4 percent to 7.8 percent over the past decade or so. It finds that the drivers of growth differ sharply by sector, with manufacturers scaling through R&D, AI adoption, and exports, while service firms rely more on brand strength and design capabilities. The findings call for an integrated approach that diagnoses each firm's specific bottlenecks and delivers tailored policy packages, rather than relying on generic, R&D-centric support.

Strengthening State-Owned Enterprise Reform: The World Bank-KDI GKEDC Capacity-Building Program

The World Bank-KDI GKEDC Capacity-Building Program on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), hosted by the KDI Global Knowledge Exchange and Development Center (GKEDC) in partnership with the World Bank Group, was held from July 13 to 17, 2026, to support ongoing SOE reform efforts in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and the State of Sarawak, Malaysia. Drawing on Korea's experience in SOE policy and reform, the program combined expert-led sessions on SOE ownership and governance, fiscal risk management, performance evaluation, and public disclosure with a site visit to Incheon International Airport Corporation and policy dialogues in Sejong with Korea's Ministry of Finance and Economy and other government agencies.

Building on country diagnostics and workshops held throughout the week, each delegation developed a country-specific action plan for SOE reform, and KDI GKEDC, encouraged by strong participant satisfaction with this pilot program, plans to continue its cooperation with the World Bank.