President to embark on Asian tour next week

President Lee Myung-bak will embark on a three-nation Asian tour next week that will take him to Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Blue House said yesterday.

The president will leave Sunday for Ulan Bator, Mongolia, where he will hold summit talks with his Mongolian counterpart, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, on bilateral cooperation in energy, resources and health.

The two heads of state are also expected to adopt a joint action plan on the development of bilateral ties, according to the Blue House.

Lee will then head to Uzbekistan for a two-day visit from Aug. 23, his first trip to the Central Asian country since September 2009. During his trip, Lee and Uzbek President Islam Karimov will hold a summit to discuss ways to further develop their countries’ “strategic partnership” established during Lee’s last trip to Tashkent, the Uzbek capital.

Lee will also attend a meeting of the Korea-Uzbekistan Economic Cooperation Committee, which is set to sign a memorandum of understanding on increased cooperation in the medical and textile sectors.

Lee’s tour will end in Kazakhstan for a state visit and summit with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose agenda will likely include energy and economic cooperation, presidential officials said.

The trip to Kazakhstan will also mark Lee’s first since 2009 when Lee and his Kazakh counterpart agreed to an action plan aimed at raising their countries’ bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership. Lee will return home on Aug. 26.

Yonhap

Comments

Popular posts from this blog