Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Cho Jung-pyo attended the 15th SAARC summit
1. Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Cho Jung-pyo attended the 15th SAARC Summit in Sri Lanka from August 2 to 3 as an observer.
2. Korea first attended the 14th SAARC Summit as an observer last year. The 15th SAARC Summit was observed by Korea as well as the US, Japan, China, the EU, Iran and Mauritius. Minister of the Prime Minister's Office Cho Jung-pyo, the head of Korean delegation, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the Summit and explained the status of cooperation projects between Korea and the SAARC, and also expressed the Korean government's will to strengthen cooperation with the SAARC.
3. Moreover, Minister Cho paid a courtesy call on the President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa at the invitation of the Sri Lanka side and discussed ways to increase substantive economic cooperation between Korea and Sri Lanka and strengthen bilateral cooperation at the international stage.
4. The SAARC was established in 1985 by 8 South Asian nations including India and Pakistan. It is a regional cooperative organization that is attracting attention from the international society due to India's rapid emerging, large market potential and the geopolitical importance. In particular, at the 15th SAARC Summit, member nations signed the SAARC Development Fund, which is expected to serve as an important opportunity for the SAARC to develop from the declaratory stage into the implementation stage.
Spokesperson of MOFAT
*unofficial translation