 Following the opening of the 3rd OECD World Forum, "Charting Progress, Building Visions, Improving Life", held in the South Korean town of Busan, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, met with the President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Myung-bak. President Lee outlined the exceptional progress his country has been recording on its way out of the economic crisis, the most important being the restoration of economic growth, which in the current year has reached 3%, while a further increase is expected for the next year. Mr Lee drew attention to his country's investments in green technologies, which were an important aspect of overcoming the crisis. |
 The two dignitaries also discussed co-operation between the Republic of Korea and the European Union, which is entering a new phase. The free trade agreement concluded recently between the EU and South Korea also allows Slovenia to assume a larger role in this context. President Türk emphasised that both countries are interested in promoting a trade balance, advocating increased Slovenian exports to the Republic of Korea and more Korean investment in Slovenia. The two also agreed that a South Korean business delegation would visit Slovenia next spring, and that this event would be dedicated to multi-faceted development of bilateral economic relations. In their opinion, the most promising areas for promoting economic co-operation are the car industry, logistics, electronics and tourism.
President Lee and President Türk also agreed on the necessity of enhancing cultural co-operation between the two countries and of promoting language learning. A department of Korean language is already in place at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, while in the near future, departments of Slovene language will be established at the Chung-ang University in Seoul and the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. |