President Alain Berset to travel to Bangladesh and South Korea
Bern, 30.01.2018 - President Alain Berset will be paying official visits next week to Bangladesh and South Korea. In the first official visit by a Swiss president to Bangladesh, there will be two main aims: to demonstrate solidarity with a country that is severely affected by the crisis in neighbouring Myanmar, and to establish closer bilateral relations. In South Korea Mr Berset will conduct high-level talks and attend the opening of the Olympic Winter Games.
In Bangladesh Mr Berset is due to hold official talks with President Md. Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali. He will commend the political and economic relations between the two countries and gauge the considerable potential for further development. In addition, solidarity with Bangladesh in the Rohingya crisis will be a major focus of the talks, as will cooperation at international level.
On Tuesday, 6 February, Mr Berset will visit the Kutupalong camp in the Cox’s Bazar district, where Switzerland provides humanitarian aid to Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar. The programme also includes a meeting with representatives of Swiss businesses active in Bangladesh, and attendance at the Dhaka Art Summit, of which the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia is a partner.
Switzerland and Bangladesh enjoy good relations, with contacts focusing on development cooperation: Bangladesh is a priority country in Swiss development cooperation. However, there is also growing interest in bilateral economic relations. The volume of trade between the two countries has more than doubled since 2010.
Bilateral relations and Olympics in South Korea
Switzerland and South Korea, the second stop on the Swiss president’s itinerary, enjoy flourishing and increasingly close political, economic and cultural relations.
Moreover, South Korea is one of Switzerland’s eight priority countries for bilateral cooperation in education, research and innovation.
On Thursday, 8 February, Mr Berset will meet South Korean President MOON Jae-in Moon to discuss bilateral relations, in particular cooperation in economic and scientific affairs. The security situation on the Korean peninsula will also be a key topic of discussion. Mr Berset will also join South Korea’s Minister for Health and Welfare, PARK Neung-hoo, in attending the closing event of the Swiss-Korean Innovation Week in Seoul.
The final stop of the tour is PyeongChang, where the XXIII Winter Olympics open on Friday, 9 February. During his stay there, Mr Berset will hold bilateral talks with heads of state and government, and with representatives of some international organisations. In addition, he will attend events in the House of Switzerland and cheer on Swiss athletes as they take part in their Olympic events.
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