President of the Republic, Chairperson of the AU calls for the Establishment of an Effective Partnership Between Africa and the Republic of Korea
Seoul
HE. the President of the Republic and Chairperson of the African Union, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, expressed his appreciation for the content of the welcome speech delivered by Mr. Yoon Seok Yeol, President of the Republic of Korea, at the dinner held in honor of the heads of delegations representing the Presidents and Governments participating in the Africa-Korea Summit in Seoul.
In a speech delivered at the opening session of the Korea-Africa Summit on Tuesday in Seoul, the President of the Republic praised the Korean President’s keenness to strengthen the relationship between Africa and Korea, and his sincere desire to express the strengthening of this relationship, to include all aspects of strong strategic partnerships.
The President of the Republic said that the countries of the African continent share with Korea the aspiration to build and deepen a fruitful partnership in both directions, to create sustainable development, within a framework of mutual respect, praising the Korean President’s conviction of the ability of the two sides to deepen and consolidate the partnership to face challenges and achieve many important goals in various fields such as education, training, energy and agriculture, and industry that concern everyone, and achieve a prosperous future.
He stressed that cooperation is still below the hoped-for level, as trade exchanges between our two regions do not exceed 2% of our foreign exchanges, but we are counting a lot on this summit to achieve a decisive leap towards upgrading our partnership to the highest levels.
He also said that young people should get a large share of them by supporting education and vocational training programs for the benefit of our youth, who represent about 60% of the continent’s population.
He also stressed the focus on food security by exploiting the promising opportunities offered by the Korean Rice Belt Initiative, in addition to working towards a comprehensive African industrial renaissance.
He also expressed his concern about the implementation of inter-continental development plans, which collide with many obstacles that are getting stronger and deeper with the worsening of the international economic, security and political climate due to the multiplicity of crises and wars.
He said that what we are witnessing today in Gaza and in Palestine in general of systematic genocide undermines world peace and slows down the implementation of international development plans by limiting the possibility of mobilizing the necessary financial resources, especially if the serious economic and security repercussions resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian war are added.
He also stressed that the global system today needs radical reforms that require us to coordinate our common positions in order to reform the Security Council, review the global economic system and reconsider the debt file that burdens our African countries and limits their ability to carry out basic services for their citizens, which has direct consequences for their security and stability.
At the end of his speech, His Excellency, the President of the Republic said ‘’We look forward to strengthening our coordination in international fora on these issues, counting on the Republic of Korea’s support for our just positions, and I am confident that this summit, for which I wish success, will enable us together to establish an effective partnership through which we can build, together, a future based on solidarity and sustainable common growth.’’