RP-ROK Summit Meeting

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and President Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea held a productive meeting in Seoul during President Arroyo’s state visit to the Republic of Korea on May 30, 2009. The bilateral meeting between the two Presidents focused on charting a new direction for a more comprehensive and dynamic relations between the two countries, especially in the fields of economic and trade cooperation, development cooperation and people-to-people linkages.

President Arroyo’s state visit to Korea was anchored with the celebration of the 60th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the Republic of Korea. The bilateral relation has since progressed deeply and broadly to such an extent that Korea becomes the Philippines’ seventh largest trading partner in 2008.

After their bilateral meeting, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of twelve (12) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), nine of which were government to government, while three (3) were private-sector agreements.

Among these, several eye-catching MOU’s are as follows:

• Exchange of Notes on the Grant Aid on Rice Processing Complex (RPC);

• MOU on the Feasibility Study on the Establishment of Multi-Industry Cluster;

• MOU for Agricultural Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Rural Development Administration of ROK and the Department of Agriculture.