| Lyna Mohamad |
THE Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Brunei Darussalam hosted a reception to mark Korea’s National Foundation Day at the Indera Samudra Grand Hall of The Empire Hotel & Country Club on Wednesday.
Representing His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam’s Government at the event was the Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism, Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong.
In his welcoming remarks, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Brunei Darussalam, Cho Won Myung said that Korea and Brunei have always continued to invest in their future leaders by organising of future-oriented youth exchanges and by initiating scholarship programmes.
The Korea and Brunei relationship has developed rapidly over the past decades – particularly on the economic side. Cho noted that trade volume between the two countries reached B$2 billion in 2016 – which is more than nine times the figure recorded in 1984.
Korea, now Brunei’s third-largest trading partner, has been an important partner for the Sultanate especially in the energy sector, and further collaborative efforts between the two countries have been planned. The two governments and companies from both countries are seeking to explore future-oriented cooperation in tourism, ICT, SMEs, e-commerce, medical and other creative and innovative industries.
“In addition, infrastructure cooperation are revitalised such as the Temburong Bridge project and the soon-to-be operational Sungai Kebun Bridge. I am honoured to say that Daelim, one of Korea’s leading construction companies, is responsible for the construction of both bridges,” added the ambassador.
Touching on the strengthening of strategic communications and cooperation between Brunei and Korea to promote regional security, the ambassador noted that one good example is the sending of Brunei representatives to the annual Seoul Defence Dialogue (SDD) and the biennial Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (Seoul ADEX) exhibition, while Korea actively participates in the Brunei-led Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) joint exercises – notably sending its Choi Young destroyer to participate in the exercises in May last year.
The ambassador also firmly believed that people-to-people exchanges are the fundamental bedrock of bilateral relationship between Brunei and Korea in the long term, hence his country has made every effort to promote education and tourism, as well as culture and people-to-people exchanges.
“As for the Korean Embassy, we are pleased to hold the economic-related seminars each year, for example FINTECH in 2016 and the Halal Food Seminar between Korea and Brunei this year. We are also proud to showcase Korea through the annually held Korean-related events, for example the Korea Festival, K-Dream Night, and Korean Film Festival,” Cho added.
He also said that they plan to make the Korean Embassy – now with its new chancery in place – the hub for ROK-Brunei and ROK-Asean friendships.
“As for the Korean Embassy, we have strived to upgrade our relationship mainly in three parts: regional peace and security, future-oriented partnership and people-to-people exchanges. This was seen with His Majesty’s visits to Korea in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two nations and for the 25th anniversary of ROK-Asean dialogue partnership in December 2014.”
This year holds particular historical significance, as Asean will be celebrating its 50th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of the Asean+3 cooperation, while for Korea and Asean, it is another special year with 2017 being Korea-Asean Cultural Exchange Year and the opening of the Asean Culture House in Busan on September 1.
Under the leadership of President Moon Jae In, the new Korean government has brought Asean into the central sphere of Korean foreign policy, further strengthening the already solid bilateral relations between ROK and Asean.
“Moreover, we greatly welcome Brunei as it assumes its role as Country Coordinator for the Asean-ROK Dialogue for 2018-2021 and look forward to making joint efforts to strengthen the partnership with Asean,” added the ambassador.
Cho also conveyed a message of congratulations from the President of the Republic of Korea to His Majesty on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne, and wished Brunei continued stability and prosperity under His Majesty’s leadership.
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