A Study on Transforming the GTI(Greater Tumen Initiative) into Infrastructure Developer in Northeast Asia
Authors:   Asia-Europe Perspective Association, Chang Do Hwan , Yoon Byung Seop 
Published: December 2024

The purpose of this study was to find the need to develop GTI into a Northeast Asia developer, and to reorganize and develop the current GTI. Through the study, we found that there is a positive effect to link the role of Korea to the possibility of participation in Northeast Asian development projects. As a Northeast Asian developer, various alternatives can be considered. It is difficult to establish a new organization for the development of infrastructure in Northeast Asia, and the role of developer is limited due to limitations of one country-centered and purpose-limited by public corporations and large construction companies. And multilateral development banks are limited in drawing up their own universal business plans and mobilizing related institutions, while deciding whether to invest in projects that have been made externally. After all, the most realistic plan is to reorganize and expand the GTI function created with the current function of developer in mind and foster it as a Northeast Asian developer.
GTI is an effective cooperation channel that can serve as an international infrastructure developer in Northeast Asia, and has the highest potential. If GTI is used to foster a regional developer organization, it can be said that the founder can overcome problems of the country, the possibility of initial success, trial and error in the process of establishment, insufficient cooperation experience, and problems in the composition of governance. Therefore, it is necessary to set the future vision and role of the GTI organization as the Northeast Asia infrastructure developer and push forward. In the case of the GTI, the multi-state cooperation has been in place for a long time, so if the member countries have the will, they will be able to develop the role of infrastructure developer in Northeast Asia into a stable organization in the shortest time. Currently, the lowest level of loose cooperation channels should be planned as infrastructure development projects to lead the participation and consent of relevant countries. It should be fostered as a developer with the highest level of coordination ability to determine project participants and allocate business rights. In this epoch-making process, leadership that can induce enthusiastic participation from member countries is crucial. The most essential fundamental factor in the development of the GTI into a developer is the sharing of member countries’ perceptions of the vision and role of the GTI in carrying out the Northeast Asian infrastructure developer. To this end, Korea’s role, which is closest to the understanding of the GTI, is important, especially in persuading member countries at high-level levels such as the summit. Under the leadership and meticulous strategy of certain leading countries, including Korea, the member states will be able to agree on and implement specific measures to reform and foster the GTI if mid-to long-term vision for the GTI is agreed upon. A rough look at the step-by-step approach to this will lead to the following steps: First, the function of the GTI should be reorganized into a Northeast Asian developer and expanded manpower and budget to enable it to be implemented at the international level. In this process, the role of the secretary general to comprehensively manage and supervise this is important, and it will be necessary to recruit and assign competent high-ranking officials to share and implement the long-term vision of the GTI. It is necessary to recruit experts to perform developer functions by sector, such as transportation, energy, and trade investment, and to strengthen backup functions to support them. The budget will also have to increase the share of member countries and increase the GTI trust funds of South Korea and China if necessary.