SOUTH Korea and Tanzania, which are two worlds apart economically today, had almost similar economies in the 1960s.

As of December 2012, available data show Tanzania, with 73 billion US dollar GDP was the 85th in nominal DGP ranking while South Korea was 15th in similar ranking.

South Korea's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) started expanding by an average of over eight per cent annually, from 2.7 billion US dollars in 1962 to 230 billion US dollars in 1989, breaking the trillion dollar mark in 2007.

The nominal GDP per capita grew from 103.88 US dollars in 1962 to 5,438.24 US dollars in 1989, reaching 20,000 US dollars in 2007. South Korea boasts of a market economy that ranks 15th globally by nominal GDP and 12th by purchasing power parity (PPP), place Seoul as one of the Greatest 20 (G20) economies.

The adoption of an outward looking strategy in the early 1960s is the most significant factor behind the rapid industrialisation of South Korea, which lacked the natural resources and wide domestic market that Tanzania is endowed with.

Dar and Seoul had almost similar development policies but Tanzania remains poor today due to failure to implement the policies. Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) and the Embassy of South Korea in Dar es Salaam hosted a half-day seminar in the city last week, to provide participants with an opportunity to deliberate on the two countries' diverging economic achievements despite having started from the same footing.

The seminar participants said Tanzania has good and implementable projects, accusing authorities of lack of seriousness to deliver. A mere implementation of programmes and strategies that the country has on paper will easily transform the country into middle income economy.

Mzumbe University's Dr Honesty Ngowi wondered why Tanzania remains poor despite having similar plans that Koreans applied to transform her economy in less than 40 years. Dr Ngowi cited the ambitious 'Kilimo Kwanza' Initiative that the government introduced in 2009 and to-date it has a number of unimplemented aspects, like the establishment of agricultural bank to finance agriculture.

Dr Ngowi, a senior economics and business lecturer, decried barriers to doing business, referring to a recent report by Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) that identified power, tax administration and corruption as the business impediments in the country.

The country has on papers all it takes to graduate from the least to developed countries' category, but implementation is the problem. The Seminar key speaker, Dr Sang-woo Nam, Dean of KDI School of Public Policy and Management in South Korea, said the key to Korean success story lays squarely on delivery and implementation. "..

The World Bank wants to learn from what Korea did to excel in terms of delivery and implementation," Dr Nam told the seminar while presenting a paper "Korea's Development Experience since the Early 1960s." He said the Korean government that came to power through a military coup in 1971, had strong commitment to economic development with number one public promise being to rescue people from abject poverty.

"The government was free from interest group pressure and corruption, closely monitoring the economy with monthly meetings to review economic conditions and export performance," Dr Nam said. REPOA's Executive Director, Prof Samwel Wangwe, said just after independence Dar had similar policy on development as of Korea but Tanzania has remained poor due to inconsistency in implementation.

He said Tanzania should learn from Korea on the smooth transition from parastatals to private companies, noting that in Dar es Salaam the transition has not increased performance. "Korea managed to ensure that those who bought the enterprises did not change them to something else," Prof Wangwe said.

The country has privatised over 300 parastatals. A participant, Dr Jonas Kipokola, a former Permanent Secretary, said during formulation of vision 2025 that took three years, emphasis, like Koreans, was placed on mindset change.

"But, while Koreans have changed their mindsets, ours are changing, yes, but to worse," Dr Kipokola said, noting that national leaders have to act urgently to reverse the trend. Commissioner for Public, Private Partnership (PPP) in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Frank Mhilu said Tanzania needs to learn more from Korea on how best to implement PPP on village level.

According to Dr Nam Sang-woo, a prominent Korean Economist, the secret behind Korean development is strong investment in education, active participation of villagers in land reforms as well as efforts to change people's mindsets and give economic incentives.

The Korean government also made serious effort to mobilise domestic savings, discouraged foreign direct incentives and use of economic powers such as pension funds, corporate consortiums to finance development efforts.

Dar es Salaam has also made some strides as the current per capita income has grown by over 40 per cent between 1998 and 2007. Overall, real economic growth has averaged six per cent a year, the rate that economists describe as inadequate to improve the lives of an average Tanzanian.