President Park Geun-hye has held bilateral summits with her Cambodian, Indonesian and Myanmar counterparts on the sidelines of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit. They discussed bilateral cooperation and measures to bolster their partnerships.

President Park hosted a summit meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on December 13. The two heads of state discussed measures to strengthen bilateral relations, economic cooperation, development cooperation and issues on the Korean Peninsula, among other things.





President Park Geun-hye said that, “In the near future, our two nations should work together to adopt the ‘double taxation’ avoidance system, currently under discussion."

The president continued to say that, “A number of Korean sewing companies are in Cambodia. They face troubles related to labor management issues, such as the minimum wage." She asked her Cambodian counterpart to care and support the Korean companies.

The Cambodian Prime Minister agreed to adopt the "double taxation avoidance" system in the near future, promising to communicate his government's position soon via the Ministry of Finance. He also added that, "The labor management issue is a difficult problem, but I will make my best efforts to settle it."



The two heads of state discussed a variety of measures to bolster bilateral economic cooperation, too. Park expressed interest in the construction of the Mekong River Grain Terminal. She mentioned that Cambodia is in need of a grain terminal that makes use of the Mekong waterway, due to the recent surge in grain exports, and suggested they work on its construction jointly.

Park also asked for Cambodia to support the participation of Korean IT companies in establishing a retail payment system and the launching of startups in Cambodia by young Korean entrepreneurs. She also encouraged the sharing between the two countries of their experiences on health care and the expansion of bilateral cooperation to adopt a system in Cambodia that would enable the building of a database of trademark rights.

Expressing sympathy with President Park’s suggestions, the Cambodian prime minister expressed hope that bilateral trade would expand and that Korea would import more Cambodian raw materials.

Prime Minister Hun Sen also said that, “There are a lot of connections between Korea’s Saemaul Undong, a set of rural development policies, and Cambodia’s farming policy. We plan to launch an agricultural university and it is expected to contribute to economic development and to the development of people-to-people exchanges."

Regarding the Korean Peninsula, President Park expressed gratitude for Cambodia's support for her Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative and for her Trust Building Process on the Korean Peninsula. Park said, "The international community should make concerted efforts to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and to encourage an attitude of change. The Cambodian prime minister replied that his nation will send its support for all the plans South Korea has related to North Korean issues.

On the same day, the two heads of state signed five MOUs to cover education, health care and medical science, intellectual property, the adoption of a retail payment system and cooperation on start-up businesses for youth.



On December 11, President Park held a summit with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit. They agreed to hold a foreign ministers' joint committee meeting and to cooperate on the defense industry, online government services, finances, maritime infrastructure, the creative industries and human exchanges. They also concurred to increase bilateral investment.

"Indonesia is one of Korea's key trading partners and an important cooperative partner," said President Park. "Our two sides have deepened their bilateral strategic partnership with active cooperation on the defense industry and with the exchange of high-level officials."

"I hope that our bilateral relations will develop even further," said President Joko Widodo.



President Park suggested that the two countries share their wisdom to create a win-win situation so that they can resume negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which has had no progress since February.

In response, President Joko Widodo said that they can approach the issue with an emphasis on the market, investments and economic cooperation, reflecting each other's positions and making efforts to bring mutual benefits. Then, they will be able to resume negotiations quickly.

President Park said North Korea's nuclear arms development could destabilize the world's non-proliferation system and asked for Indonesia's support and cooperation on South Korea's policy toward North Korea. The president also said she hoped that Indonesia would take continued interest in North Korea's human rights issues.



In an earlier summit between President Park and Myanmar President U Thein Sein, the two leaders discussed ways to improve bilateral relations and cooperation. They exchanged their views on strengthening cooperation on national affairs, national defense, the defense industry, the economy, energy and construction. They also discussed the regional state of affairs, including matters regarding the Korean Peninsula and other major international issues.

"President Thein Sein's leadership as the chair country of the ASEAN Summit in Myanmar in November was very impressive," said President Park.

"Next year is a meaningful year, marking the 40th anniversary of the Korea-Myanmar diplomatic relationship. I hope that our bilateral relations will develop further," she added.

In response, President Thein Sein said, "At the bilateral summit, I believe that we can produce fruitful results for the mutually beneficial development of our relationship."



President Thein Sein expressed his gratitude for Korea having shared its experiences and technology with Myanmar through the Saemaul Undong movement, which helps develop rural areas of Myanmar, and the establishment of the Myanmar Development Institute (MDI). President Thein Sein also asked Korea for more support on technology, finance, information technology and rural development.

Park said their bilateral trade and investment have continued to grow with the reform policy taken up by Myanmar since 2011 and hoped that the two nations would be able to further strengthen their actual cooperation at the second joint committee meeting scheduled early next year.

Finally, President Pak added that there is a need to develop container terminals and ports in Myanmar due to growth in the amount of cargo volume resulting from the country's economic growth. The president hoped that Myanmar would be able to further strengthen its bilateral cooperation with Korea, which has world-class technology and knowhow in shipping and ports development.

By Limb Jae-un, Lee Seung-ah
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae, The ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit
jun2@korea.kr