4th Africa-Korea Forum opens in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa, December 6, 2016 (FBC) -The 4th Africa-Korea Forum opened in Addis Ababa at the African Union Head Quarters, Medium Conference Hall on Tuesday (December 6).

The first sessions included a meeting of senior officials, remarks by representatives of governments and the African Union Commission, and consideration of a review of the implementation of the Plan of Action introduced at the 3rd African-Korea Forum.

The sessions also included consideration of the draft outcome document of the 4th Africa-Korea Forum which will be addressed by presentation of the Addis Ababa Declaration of the 4th Africa-Korea Forum and its framework for cooperation.

In his opening remarks at the senior officials meeting that took place prior to the Ministerial session that will continue tomorrow, Ambassador Wahide Belay, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to AU and ECA, welcomed participants to Addis Ababa and commended the sub-committee on multilateral cooperation for the preparation of the outcome documents.

Korea, he noted had been a symbol of success and a model for many countries; it had been “one of the handful of success stories during the last century.”

He emphasized that there were “fertile grounds for cooperation in industrialization, agriculture, science and technology transfer, human resources development and even more.”

He stressed that to harness the potential of Africa for people’s all-rounded development, Africa was also designing its own policies and strategies.

“I believe”, he said, “that one of the key strategies for the advancement of Africa is to beneficially integrate into the global economy, and this can, in turn, be facilitated through effective collaboration with partner countries such as the republic of Korea”.

Speaking on behalf AU Commissioner, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Ms. Fatima Haram, Commissioner for Trade and Industry, said Africa had strong partnerships with various regions and countries worldwide.

She praised the on-going partnership between the Africa Union Commission and African Countries with the Republic of Korea.

She noted the importance of concerted efforts to realize further strong regional and continental ties in line with the African Union Agenda 2063.

She said Korea had huge development experience and this could be shared with African Countries.

Mr. Kwon Hee-Seog, Director General for Africa and Middle Eastern Affairs for Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that that close and wide ranging cooperation between Korea and Africa n countries was a priority for Korea. He said partnerships would be further enhanced through such mechanisms as the African-Korea Forum and the framework of cooperation between the two sides.