The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Rybak met with the the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Kang Chan-hee on Monday.  

The Parties have discussed a wide range of issues regarding further activation of Ukrainian-Korean cooperation, in particular, in the political, trade-economic and social spheres.

Welcoming his Korean colleague on the Ukrainian land, Volodymyr Rybak expressed conviction that this visit will promote deepening of cooperation between the Ukrainian and Korean people.

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada stressed an increased role of East Asian countries in the modern system of international relations. As a result, full-fledged cooperation with these countries is becoming an important component of Asian direction of Ukraine’s foreign policy. “The support of regular Ukrainian-Korean political dialogue at the highest and the higher levels is an effective tool for stimulating cooperation in all spheres, as well as setting of new orienting points of bilateral cooperation,” he said.

The Chairman of the Parliament believes that inter-parliamentary cooperation both at the level of committees and parliamentary friendship groups is an important component of political dialogue between the two states. “Active dialogue between the deputy friendship groups of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the National Assembly of the Korean Republic is an effective tool for the development of bilateral cooperation both in the economic and trade-economic spheres,” noted Volodymyr Rybak, underlining that the visit of the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Korea to Ukraine on August 18-23, 2013 has become an important event on the way to strengthening cooperation between our countries in the inter-parliamentary direction.    

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada claimed that “development of economic component, as well as deepening of trade and economic cooperation” are the priority directions of bilateral relations. He is convinced that the level of this cooperation does not correspond to the possibilities of the Parties. 

Volodymyr Rybak stressed the importance of regular meetings of the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Korean Commission on matters of trade and economic cooperation.

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada informed the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea of Ukraine’s interest in combining significant financial resources of the Korean Republic with the possibilities of Ukraine, particularly, by attracting Korean investments inagriculture, construction, metallurgy and energy sector, as well as in high-tech branches of industry of our state. According to him, the Ukrainian authorities take all measures to ensureattractive investment climate in Ukraine. “We are interested in continuing and maintaining cooperation with leading South Korean companies in implementing investment projects on the territory of our state,” stressed Volodymyr Rybak, noting the importance of successful implementation of joint projects that are at different stages of implementation.

He named such projects as: the launch of Korean Land remote sensing satellite “Kompsat-5” by the Ukrainian carrier-rocket, national project “LNG-terminal”, production project of high-speed trains in Ukraine, project of co-assembly production of Korean cars at Ukrainian car factories, projects in the agricultural sector, import of power equipment for war ships of the Republic of Korea, social project of “Samchully” company. Inviting Korean businessmen to cooperation, the Chairman of the Parliament said that “the first one to come to Ukraine with business will stay in our country forever.”

Talking about the issue of cooperation in the international arena, Volodymyr Rybak noted that “our countries are similar in foreign policy approaches to settling the most important and topical issues of the modern age.” “In bilateral cooperation and in the international arena they show consciousness and mutual understanding,” he underlined, noting that Ukrainian-Korean cooperation in the UN and other international organizations has “a traditionally constructive character.” The Chairman of the Parliament reminded that Ukraine supported the candidacy of the Republic of Korea to the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the period of 2013-2014 and hopes that the Korean delegation will support Ukraine’s candidacy for the period of 2016-2017 during 2015 elections. 

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada claimed that Ukraine positively evaluates the implementation of “credibility policy”, particularly “Initiative for Peace and Cooperation in Northeast Asia” under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Korea Ms Park Geun-hye.

In his turn, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea informed about the interest of Korean businessmen in expanding cooperation between our countries. “There is a prospect of cooperation in the agricultural sector, in the informational technologies sector, in the military and space sector,” he said, having appreciated the high level of training of personnel for informational technologies sector. In this context, Kang Chan-hee said that leading Korean company “Samsung” will build a research centre in Ukraine.   

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea said also that technologies of space industry, aviation and military industries are highly developed. According to him, Korean businessmen are ready to make investments into joint production of high speed trains (in Dnipropetrovsk) and into construction of liquefied natural gas terminal (LNG in Odesa); as well as to introduce developed technology of agriculture on the Ukrainian land. “If I were a businessman, I would have invested in Ukraine long time ago,” said Kang Chan-hee promising to advise Korean businessmen to invest in business in Ukraine more actively.       

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea thanked the Ukrainian Party for the support of candidacy of the Republic of Korea to the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the period of 2013-2014 and assured that the Republic of Korea will support Ukraine’s candidacy for the period of 2016-2017 during 2015 elections.    

Supporting Volodymyr Rybak’s words regarding the necessity of activating inter-parliamentary relations, Kang Chan-hee invited Ukraine’s delegation to pay an official visit to the Republic of Korea. 

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea made a record in the Book of Honorary Guests of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

http://www.rada.gov.ua/en/news/top_news/83112.html