South Korean foreign minister meets with foreign ministers of eight African countries

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol held bilateral talks on the 2nd with foreign ministers of eight countries, including Nigeria, who visited South Korea to attend the Korea-Africa Summit, and announced that substantial progress had been made in bilateral relations between the two countries.
The Korean government held the first Korea-Africa summit to dramatically strengthen cooperation with Africa.
In a meeting with Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tugger, Cho said, “Nigeria is Korea’s core economic partner in Africa.
"We hope that we can further strengthen cooperation with Nigeria, which is the largest recipient of overseas construction contracts for Korean companies," said Tugger.
"We hope that the summit will serve as an opportunity for us to expand our presence in Nigeria," he said. During his meeting with the Namibian Foreign Minister, Zhao said, "Namibia has great potential in the fields of solar and wind power generation.
"I look forward to working closely together to expand bilateral cooperation in various fields, including green hydrogen and core minerals," he said.
During the meeting with the Republic of Zimbabwe, the two countries celebrated the 30th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations this year.
In recognition of the active high-level exchanges, the leaders agreed to conclude an air services agreement, a memorandum of understanding for the Trade and Investment Facilitation Framework (TIPF), and an understanding for participating in the K Rice Belt project on the occasion of this summit.
The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in various fields based on the memorandum of understanding. In the meeting with Morocco, the two sides agreed to use the summit as an opportunity to conclude an agreement on climate change cooperation, an agreement on social security, and an agreement on external relations.
They appreciated the signing of the Economic Cooperation Fund (EDCF) grant agreement and expressed their hope that the EDCF grant agreement will enable more Korean companies to enter the market in Morocco.
During the meeting with the Republic of Botswana, the two countries shared core values such as democracy and freedom and shared the view that they have developed friendly relations centered on the infrastructure sector.
Based on the active high-level exchanges that have been ongoing since last year, the two countries decided to expand substantive cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, water resources, agriculture and health.
At the meeting with the Republic of Madagascar, the two sides praised the active high-level exchanges that took place on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations last year, and discussed various fields including agriculture, health and the environment.
In addition to the development cooperation being carried out in areas such as infrastructure, we will strengthen economic cooperation based on the Trade and Investment Facilitation Framework (TIPF) and the Memorandum of Understanding on Economic Cooperation concluded last year.
During the meeting with Cameroon, it was stated that the visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and official passports concluded at the summit will promote the expansion of high-level exchanges and practical cooperation between the two countries in the future.
During the meeting with Mauritania, he expressed his hope that the memorandum of understanding on the Trade and Investment Facilitation Framework (TIPF), which will be concluded on the occasion of the Korea-Africa Summit, will further accelerate trade and investment between the two countries.
In addition, Cho said he would resign in response to the decision by Mauritania, the chair of the African Union (AU), to co-host the Korea-Africa summit.
Through their talks, the two foreign ministers reviewed the status of preparations for the summit as co-hosts and coordinated the roles of their respective countries.
African foreign ministers expressed concern over North Korea's continued provocations and called for peace and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
On the same day, Cho held a separate signing ceremony with African foreign ministers, signing a number of agreements, including a Korea-Morocco social security agreement, a basic agreement on climate change, and an agreement on the provision of the Economic and Social Security Fund.
, Korea-Mozambique EDCF Basic Agreement, Korea-Zimbabwe Air Services Agreement, Korea-Cameroon Visa Exemption Agreement for Diplomatic and Official Passports, Korea-Cape Verde Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of Korea, Korea-Côte d'Ivoire
They signed the Visa Exemption Agreement for Diplomatic and Official Passports and the Basic Agreement on the EDCF, among others.