Park unveils S. Korea’s initiative for cooperation with Africa

President Park Geun-hye delivers a speech at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa on May 27, 2016.

ADDIS ABABA,  (Yonhap) — President Park Geun-hye said Friday that South Korea will offer education and training for thousands of young people in Africa over the next five years as she unveiled Seoul’s initiative toward the continent for comprehensive cooperation.

“South Korea would like to share its various experiences of development that it has learned through trials and errors over the past half century,” Park said in a speech at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa.

South Korea plans to provide 6,000 people, mostly public officials, in Africa with a two-week training program, on average, on public administration, education, agriculture, healthcare and others between 2016 and 2020.

South Korea also plans to send 4,000 volunteers to Africa in such fields as information technology; education; culture; Taekwondo, a traditional Korean martial art; and healthcare.

The move underscored Park’s confidence that education will be the key to lift millions of people in Africa out of poverty and to bring prosperity and peace to the continent that has long been mired in conflicts. Education served as a key driving force for South Korea becoming the first former aid recipient to join the ranks of official donors in some 5 decades.

The president said South Korea will set up technology innovation centers in Africa to share its experience of innovation with developing countries in Africa.

She also vowed to cooperate with the African Union for education and healthcare of girls.

Last year, Park unveiled the “Better Life for Girls” initiative at the U.N. summit for sustainable development. The project aims to tackle gender inequality in education and help girls in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique and four other developing countries unlock their full potential. It also calls for strengthening health services for girls in those countries.

South Korea said it plans to contribute US$2 million to the African Union Peace Fund while pushing to expand its contributions to anti-piracy and the U.N. peacekeeping missions.

The chief executive said the Korea Aid program is part of South Korea’s new model for development cooperation with Africa. The project, set to begin in Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya, is meant to provide health service, food and South Korean cultural content to local people.

Park said South Korea can be a partner of Africa as they move toward the future.

“If Africa’s abundant labor and natural resources are combined with South Korea’s technology and capital, it will create a synergy and provide substantial help for economic development in Africa,” Park said.

The comments came as South Korea is seeking to boost political and economic ties with Africa, which has emerged as a continent of opportunity in recent years.

Also Friday, Park met with hundreds of business leaders from the two countries and asked them to closely cooperate in finding new markets and growth engines.

She called for strengthened bilateral cooperation in infrastructure while expanding cooperation to such fields as health care and climate change.

The trade volume between South Korea and Ethiopia stood at $168 million in 2015, up from $20 million in 2004.

Park is in Ethiopia, the first stop on her swing through Africa. The trip is set to take her to Kampala, Uganda, and Nairobi, Kenya, for talks with Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In an op-ed contribution published in Uganda’s New Vision newspaper on Friday, Park vowed to further boost ties with Uganda as she expressed hope that South Korean companies can participate in infrastructure projects in the country.