1. Director-General for African and Middle Eastern Affairs Park Yong-min held a policy consultation with Tanzania’s acting director-general for Asian affairs Justa M. Nyange on August 2, and discussed a range of issues regarding the ROK-Tanzania relations, including ways to increase substantive cooperation and a plan to open the Tanzanian Embassy in the ROK.

2. Director-General Park said that the director-general-level policy consultation took place just four months after the meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in Seoul in April this year, which came after the ROK-Tanzania foreign ministers’ meeting held in Ethiopia on the sidelines of the Korea-Africa forum in December last year. Stressing that this shows the relations between the two countries are becoming closer, Director-General Park hoped that with this year marking the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the opening of the Embassy in the ROK, being pursued by Tanzania, will help further deepen the bilateral relations.

3. Acting director-general Nyange expressed appreciation for the ROK’s support for development cooperation so far, and offered to deepen and expand cooperation in various areas, including healthcare, education and culture, building upon the friendly relations that have developed so far. She also expressed hope that the two countries will further improve bilateral mechanisms, including the policy consultation to review the progress in cooperation between the two countries.

o Director-General Park explained that the ROK will continue to facilitate economic development cooperation with Tanzania, the ROK’s largest ODA partner in Africa, and asked for the Tanzanian government’s interest and support to help Korean companies with state-of-the-art technology increase their presence in Tanzania. Director-General Park also hoped that a double taxation avoidance agreement and an investment promotion and protection agreement will be concluded as early as possible, thereby strengthening the foundation for investment and economic cooperation between the two countries.

4. The policy consultation between the ROK and Tanzania not only served as an opportunity to enhance exchanges in a variety of sectors with Tanzania, a key African country maintaining friendly and cooperative relations with the ROK, but also helped the ROK government diversify its diplomacy.


* unofficial translation