(LEAD) Lee to visit India, Davos this month

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with Lee's plan to meet Swiss president, Bill Gates,
others, more details)
By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will visit India
later this month to seek closer cooperation between the two nations, followed by
a trip to the Swiss ski resort of Davos to attend an annual forum, Lee's office
announced Friday.
During the so-called Davos Forum, Lee is also expected to meet with several
business leaders including Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft.
Lee's four-day visit to India from Jan. 24, his first overseas trip this year,
comes after a trade pact between the two sides went into effect early this month.
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) covers services and
investments, as well as competition and other issues, and is expected to boost
bilateral trade by as much as US$3.3 billion annually. Lee's trip will be the
first by a South Korean leader to India since 2004.
He is scheduled to hold a summit with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in
New Delhi on Jan. 25, according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
The leaders will "discuss ways to promote the two countries' relations in various
sectors including diplomacy, security, economy, trade, science and technology,
society, and culture," it said in a press release. "They plan to issue a joint
statement presenting a vision for the development of their relations."
Documents to be signed include memorandums of understanding on inmate
repatriation, information and technology cooperation, and closer a partnership in
space exploration, Cheong Wa Dae said.
The following day, Lee will attend a Republic Day event, the country's largest
national celebration, as "Chief Guest," and also meet the leaders of local
political and business circles. India invites a foreign head of state each year
to the street parade. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev was invited
last year. Russian leader Vladimir Putin and French President Nicolas Sarkozy
attended it in 2007 and 2008 respectively, the Indian Embassy here said.
Lee's India visit, to be made at the invitation of President Pratibha Patil, is
significant in that it will accelerate his "New Asia Initiative" aimed at
improving Seoul's relations with its Asian neighbors and propel his efforts to
expand summit diplomacy this year, his office said.
Lee will then fly to the Swiss town to join the Davos Forum, organized by the
Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), which brings together global
intellectuals, politicians and business leaders. It is the first time for a South
Korean president to attend the forum, according to a foreign ministry official.
On Jan. 28, the president will deliver a special address on Seoul's plan to host
the G-20 economic summit in November.
"He plans to stress the role of the G-20 in attaining sustainable balanced growth
in the world economy and the need to develop a new growth engine such as green
growth and entrepreneurship," Cheong Wa Dae said.
Lee will have a summit with Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz and hold a series
of meetings with Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the WEF,
Google's chairman Eric Schmidt, and other foreign business leaders. Lee is to
return to Seoul on Jan. 30.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)

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