President Park Geun-hye will depart on January 15 for an eight-day trip to India and Switzerland, making state visits to New Delhi and Bern and finding time to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, as well. This is her first overseas trip of 2014.

President Park will pay a state visit to India from January 15 to 18 at the invitation of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.

After arriving in New Delhi on January 15, President Park will hold summit talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 16. They will discuss ways to boost bilateral cooperation between Korea and India in politics, business, science, technology, information and communications technology and other sectors.

The two leaders will also hold in-depth discussions on regional and international issues and adopt a joint declaration. Based on the past development of bilateral relations, which marked their 40th anniversary last year, the meeting will help set the future direction of the relationship for the next four decades. They will discuss ways to enhance the bilateral “strategic partnership relationship” in a substantial, comprehensive manner. A series of memoranda of understanding (MOU)-signing ceremonies will follow the Korea-India summit. President Park and Prime Minister Singh will hold a joint press conference to announce the results of their summit meeting.


Later that day, President Park will also meet high-ranking Indian officials, including Vice President Mohammad Anari and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, and attend a state dinner hosted by President Mukherjee.

To bolster cooperation in the creative industries and to improve cultural ties between Korea and India, President Park will attend an IT expo and business meeting, the Korea-India economic cooperation forum and an exhibition of traditional Korean crafts on January 17.

Through the state visit, Korea and India will advance economic cooperation by improving the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) which the two countries signed in 2009 and help with POSCO’s steel plant in the state of Odisha. To strengthen cooperation in the creative industries and to pursue win-win economic growth, both countries will sign MOUs that will enhance cooperation in basic sciences, IT, aerospace and other sectors.

The president will depart for Bern for her state visit to the Swiss Confederation on January 18. After arriving in the Swiss capital, on January 19 the president will attend the “Korea Fantasy” performance, a dance and art show that will introduce traditional Korean art and culture to the Swiss audience.

President Park will attend an economic forum involving Korean and Swiss business leaders, meeting with Swiss President Didier Burkhalter on January 20. She will also hold a summit meeting with her Swiss counterpart, which will be followed by a series of MOU-signings and a state dinner hosted by President Burkhalter.

On January 21, President Park will visit the Bern High School for Vocational Education in Trade and Industry to learn more about the country’s well-developed vocational training system. During the state visit, the president’s administration will be looking for ways to boost cooperation with Swiss businesses and Switzerland as a whole, a country which holds strengths in science, technology, vocational training and which has an economy that nurtures small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). The two countries will also discuss ways to promote substantive cooperation in tourism and how to conduct joint research into new industrial technologies in IT, precision machinery, nanotechnology and biotechnology.

President Park will secure from Switzerland understanding and support for her government’s North Korean policy and her vision of trust-building on the Korean Peninsula. Switzerland has been contributing to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula since the 1950s by sending representatives to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, a body established as part of the Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War in 1953.

President Park will then head to Davos for the 44th World Economic Forum. The forum this year will feature some 250 sessions on technological innovation, entrepreneurship and comprehensive growth. The meeting’s theme this year is “The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business.”

The president will attend a “Korea Night” function in Davos in January 21. On January 22, President Park will give a keynote speech at the forum on creative industries and the entrepreneurial spirit. On the sidelines of the forum, she will meet individually with CEOs from leading international companies such as CISCO, Qualcomm, Siemens and Saudi Aramco to explain to them Korea’s economic innovation policies and to promote the country as an ideal location for investment.

By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
arete@korea.kr