President Park Geun-hye, currently on her state visit to Switzerland, held summit talks with Swiss President Didier Burkhalter in Bern on January 21 (Korean time). The two leaders agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in science, technology, vocational training and education.

The leaders agreed to incubate talented human resources in forward-looking technologies, backed by Switzerland’s vocational education system, and in this respect signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate on vocational training. Under the agreement, Korea will select 20 graduates from its specialized "meister" vocational high schools who studied achinery or biotechnology and send them to Switzerland for a two-year vocational training course, all to develop skilled human resources with an internationally competitive edge. In line with this MOU, Korea also plans to improve the curriculum at its meister schools across the country to meet global standards.

The two countries signed a social security agreement which exempts pension deductions and employment insurance from the salary of workers in both countries. The agreement will benefit Korean workers in Switzerland with up to KRW 22.9 million saved and Swiss workers in Korea with up to KRW 10 million saved per year. Cheong Wa Dae said that this agreement is a fruitful outcome achieved by the two countries after 14 years of negotiations.



President Park said that she shares the view with her Swiss counterpart that fostering high quality talent is the key driving force to lead a creativity-based economy. “We agreed to build a cooperative structure with Switzerland in vocational training, a field in which Switzerland is quite strong. If Switzerland can combine its prowess in core technologies and basic sciences with Korea’s industrial technology, it will create greater potential synergies,” said President Park. In this respect, both countries also signed an MOU on educational cooperation. To conduct joint research in basic sciences, an MOU was signed by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA). To support commercialization and starting new businesses using science and technology, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) signed an MOU with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL).

The two countries agreed to enhance beneficial technological cooperation by combining Switzerland’s knowhow in precision machinery, nanotechnology and biotechnology with Korea’s manufacturing technology. Both countries agreed to set up joint support measures amongst financial organizations in order to help each other’s firms enter third markets.


In regard to North Korean issues, President Burkhalter expressed his active support for Seoul’s North Korean policy. The Swiss leader emphasized that Pyongyang should give up its nuclear weapons program. The two leaders shared a common view that they need to create an environment in which Pyongyang will have no choice but to change, unless the North changes on its own.

Cheong Wa Dae said that governments and organizations from the two countries have signed a total of 11 MOUs and agreements thanks to the Korea-Switzerland summit.

By Wi Tack-whan, Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writers
whan23@korea.kr