South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba signed bilateral agreements on expanding energy and infrastructure ties and avoiding double taxation, according to Lee s office Cheong Wa Dae.
Ondima is on a three-day visit to South Korea, his first visit to the country as the head of the African nation. The two countries forged formal diplomatic relations in 1962.
The President of the Gabonese Republic Ali Bongo Ondimba made an official three day visit to South Korea from Sunday 24 October at the invitation of his South Korean counterpart, President Lee Myung-bak.
The two Heads of State met on Monday 25 October to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries and, notably, cooperation in the energy sector, in the development and exploitation of natural resources, infrastructure, as well as the experience of South Korea in terms of economic development.
During his visit, President Ali Bongo Ondimba also visited the special economic zone in Songo, as well as the Samsung Electronics site and met a number of figures in South Korean business community. Last month, a delegation of South Korean businessmen were in Libreville to show their interest in participating in the tender of 42 deep offshore oil blocks, and in the future development of a national oil company.
This visit falls within a context where, since his investiture as Head of the Gabonese Republic a year ago, President Ali Bongo Ondimba is leading an ambitious programme of economic reforms, called 'Gabon Emergent', in order to make Gabon a newly developed country.
The policy of Emergence rests on the diversification of the Gabonese economy across 3 pillars - Green Gabon, Industrial Gabon and Services Gabon - with, notably, the willingness to open the country up to foreign investors (reform of business and financial sector, opening of economic opportunities) and the diversification Gabon's international partners.
Since October 2009, nearly US$7 billion dollars of foreign direct investment have been announced in the form of contracts signed with French, Malaysian, Chinese, Singaporean, Indian and American groups.
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