Seoul, 29 October 2014
President Kagame and President Park Geun-hye held a bilateral meeting during the second day of President Kagame’s visit to South Korea.
Held at Blue House, the South Korean Presidential residence and office, the meeting focused on the growing bilateral relations between South Korea and Rwanda.
With South Korea’s achieving transformation from a developing nation to top twenty economies in the world, the two Presidents discussed the opportunities for collaboration stemming from the similarities that define both Rwanda and South Korea’s vision. The two Presidents expressed that Korea’s history makes the nation a natural partner in Rwanda’s journey of socio-economic transformation.
A key similarity discussed is the commitment to self reliance through homegrown initiatives- particularly Umuganda in Rwanda and Saemaul Udong (New Village Movement) in South Korea. The latter was established in 1970 as a means to modernize rural areas and ensure community’s participation in economic growth through diligence, self-help and community work. The initiative is largely credited for South Korea’s rural development.
President Park recognized Rwanda’s achievements in the past two decades including rebuilding a post conflict nation, good governance, business friendly environment and Rwanda’s determination to achieve transformation.
Both President Kagame and President Park Geun-hye reiterated their commitment to building on the existing bilateral relationships and increase cooperation with a strong emphasis on encouraging South Korean private sector to invest in Rwanda. Key sectors of cooperation will include ICT, human capacity development, rural development and housing.
“We believe in and want to help Rwanda’s vision of becoming an IT hub,” President Park said.
Korea Telecom, whose headquarters President Kagame visited earlier today, serves as a model of mutually beneficial partnership between South Korea Private Sector and Rwanda. During his meeting with Chang-Gyu Hwang, Korea Telecom (KT) chairman and his team, President Kagame assured KT of Rwanda’s full support in the implementation of the 4G network and thanked KT for the role they play in supporting the growth of ICT in Rwanda with the provision of 4G network.
President Kagame ended the bilateral; meeting with an invitation to President Park to visit Rwanda.
The meeting with President Park marked the end of President Kagame’s two day visit to South Korea.