외교부

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           Your Excellencies Ambassador Guryanov and Minister Gaisenak, Honorary Consul Yoon, Chairman Kim, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

 

           It is indeed a great honor for me to be here with you this evening to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Belarus as well as the inauguration of the Korea-Belarus Friendship Association.

 

           Let me first thank Ambassador Guryanov for organizing this wonderful occasion and for giving me this opportunity to say a few words of congratulations on behalf of the government of the Republic of Korea.

 

           I would also like to extend my warmest welcome to Minister Gaisenak and the members of the Belarussian delegation who have traveled such a long way to join us at this memorable event.

 

           Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

 

           Korea and Belarus are geographically far apart. The geographical distance, however, has never been an obstacle to our joint efforts to build a closer and stronger partnership between our two countries.

 

           Working together, we have made a steady, if not fully satisfactory, progress in strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation over the past 15 years. A number of bilateral agreements including, among others, the Agreement on Investment Protection and the Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation have laid a solid institutional foundation for deepening and broadening our economic cooperation now and in the future.

 

           It is true that statistics on our two-way trade and investment are not impressive and, to be frank with you, somewhat disappointing. But I believe that this is a matter of whether to see the glass as half-full or half-empty. The current statistics show an evidence that there are so many areas of cooperation yet to be explored to our mutual benefits.

 

           I believe that increasing people-to-people contacts and exchanges is the most effective way of enhancing mutual understanding and thereby expanding and solidifying the base of economic cooperation. This is why both governments have been working on the early conclusion of the bilateral Cultural Agreement and Air Services Agreement.

 

           For the past two days, the representatives of our two governments and private sectors have been engaged in serious discussions on how best we can pull together our respective strength and competitiveness for our common prosperity, how best we can bring our business communities closer to each other and work on specific joint projects, and how best we can provide a new impetus for further activating interactions between our two peoples and governments at all levels.

 

           Yesterday, I myself had an honor to co-chair with Minister Gaisenak the 1st Korea-Belarus Joint Committee on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation. And the 4th Korea-Belarus Political Consultation Meeting was held successfully this morning. The Belarussian delegation has also had opportunities to meet a number of senior government officials and leaders of Korean business community.

 

           These meetings were very constructive in terms of identifying new areas of cooperation and drawing a blueprint for our future collaboration. Both sides have been encouraged by the fact that they both are firmly committed to making a meaningful step forward towards this end. They have also been encouraged to learn that the prospect for the Korea-Belarus economic partnership is brighter than they have anticipated in the past.

           We may have a long way to go until we are fully satisfied with the results of our common endeavors. But as an old Korean saying goes, "even the long journey of one-thousand miles starts with the first step." I believe that, over the past two days, we have made the very first step forward in our long journey towards the enduring partnership.

 

           With shared commitment and renewed spirit of cooperation, I am confident that the Korea-Belarus partnership will continue to grow to new heights in the years to come.

 

            On this positive note, may I now propose a toast to the happy anniversary of the Korea-Belarus diplomatic relations and to the long-lasting friendship and cooperation between our two countries.

 

           Thank you very much.