04 Jun 2024

As President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, First Lady Neo and their entourage landed at the Incheon International Airport on the outskirts of the Republic of Korea's capital Seoul on Monday, a week of actively pursuing a new dawn for relations between Botswana and the South East Asian state commenced.

Welcomed to the pomp and ceremony of a guard of honour by the Republic of Korea army, Dr Masisi and his delegation came with a purpose to use the inaugural Korea-Africa Summit as well as bilateral meetings to bind political and economic cords with the hugely successful nation.

Speaking to BOPA after welcoming the President to his diplomatic jurisdiction, Botswana’s Ambassador to Japan, also accredited to South Korea, Major General (Retired) Gotsileene Morake said this was a worthy opportunity to cement ties with a globally respected economic success story.

“On the second day of the summit, President Masisi will meet his counterpart, President of Korea, Mr Yoon Suk Yeol for bilateral discussions at the State House. Here, it will not be the overall Korea-Africa issues that will dominate the summit, but will be narrowed down to Botswana and Korea ties,” Ambassador Morake said.

The two heads of state are anticipated to discuss at the highest political level how best the two countries can forge a stronger mutually beneficial relationship.

“The President will express to his counterpart how Botswana would like to see its relationship with Korea evolve. We are impressed with the huge economic progress Korea made in a very short time, and especially the role research and development, knowledge systems and technology played in this Korean economic miracle,” he said. Korea invested heavily in making digital technology, including access to high speed internet connectivity available at an affordable rate to government facilities, business and schools, leading to the country having advanced service provision, something to learn from.

“They have used digitisation to create value for their country. We will explore how we could work with Korea in this, including in the education sphere where they are developing human capital and economic value around information communications technology (ICT),” Ambassador Morake revealed.

In addition to meeting the host President and attending the Korea-Africa Summit as part of the 48 African states invited, Dr Masisi will give a public lecture at Korea University on Fostering Collaborations with Institutions of Higher Learning in South Korea.  He will also have side engagements with captains of industry and academics, including the Korean Electrionics Technology Institute, National Information Society, Kookmin University with discussions on fostering digital government, establishment of ICT industry base among others.

During his visit, President Masisi will also have dinner with Batswana residing in Korea. ends