The Ambassador of the Republic of South Korea to Nigeria, KIM Young-Chae, has said the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit would lead to deeper mutual understanding, increased investments and humanitarian assistance to Africa.
Young-Chae said South Korea would use the summit to strengthen its relations with Nigeria and Africa.
He said this in his address delivered at the Republic of Korea National Day Reception, 2023 at the weekend in Abuja.
According to Young-Chae, the world cannot address the varied challenges of climate change, disruption of global supply chain, geo-political conflict, and the herald of the fourth industrial revolution, without Africa’s active participation.
He explained that currently, humanity was facing daunting challenges, like climate change, disruption of the global supply chain, geopolitical conflicts, and the emerging 4th industrial revolution.
Read Also: Tinubu confers with South Korean Special Envoy on trade, investment
He added that all these international challenges could not be effectively resolved without the active participation of Africa.
According to him, the Korean Government is enhancing its overall relations with Africa, adding that many Korean companies look at Africa as the next manufacturing base as well as a single market.
He said: “Under this backdrop, the Korean Government has decided to host a Korea-Africa Summit next year (2024) for the first time in its history. This will lead to more high level exchange of visits, more trade and investment opportunities, and the deepening of a mutual understanding. Together with the summit meeting, the Korean government will expand its presence in Africa.
“It will increase its ODA budget substantially in the areas of agriculture, education, health, climate adaptation and humanitarian assistance. As a model of economic development for many developing countries, Korea will showcase several platforms at the Summit in order to share its experiences of building the manufacturing base and transforming agriculture.”