Lee promises to double Africa aid in Senegal summit

(ATTN: INSERTS 2nd para to highlight Lee's planned trip to Africa next year; ADDS
more information, remarks from President Lee)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak promised Monday
to more than double Seoul's official development aid (ODA) to Africa over the
next three years in his summit talks with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade,
while also pledging to boost economic ties with Senegal.
The South Korean president also said he was planning a trip to Africa next year
to seek improved relations between his country and African states, according to
his spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
South Korea currently provides some US$100 million in development assistance to
African nations, which accounts for over 18 percent of Korea's ODA.
"This can be seen as part of efforts to transform from a poor nation that rose
from the ashes of a war and depended on assistance and support from various
countries of the world to a responsible member of the global community that will
share its own development experience with countries that are now facing
difficulties that (our) country once faced," Kim told a daily press briefing.
South Korea is being considered for membership in the Development Assistance
Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group
of some two dozen donors, with the final decision expected on Wednesday.
Wade expressed hope for improved relationship between South Korea and Senegal,
noting his country can provide a gateway to South Korean companies seeking new
business opportunities in West Africa.
"President Wade expressed gratitude for our government's ODA and asked President
Lee to continue expanding the development aid," Seoul's presidential office
Cheong Wa Dae said of the summit.
"(Wade) also expressed hope for a chance to learn Korea's development experience
while asking for our government's support to help increase the investment by
South Korean companies to his country."
The Senegalese president arrived here Sunday on a four-day visit that will
include his participation in the second Korea-Africa Forum.
The leaders also agreed to increase economic cooperation between their countries,
whose bilateral trade more than doubled to nearly US$50 million last year from
2005.
Wade praised Seoul's efforts to improve its overall relations with African
nations while President Lee said Seoul, which will assume the chairmanship of the
G-20 economic summit in 2010, will work to promote Africa's interests at the
economic forum.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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