Monrovia – President Joseph Nyuma Boakai is leveraging every opportunity to boost the implementation of his ARREST agenda. His latest efforts are in South Korea, where he is leading a high-powered Liberian delegation at the Korea-Africa Summit.
During a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on the summit’s sidelines, President Boakai called for assistance to address Liberia’s multifaceted challenges, encompassing agriculture, infrastructure, human resource development, renewable energy, education, technology, fisheries, policy development, and port construction – all key components of his ARREST agenda. ARREST stands for Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation, and Tourism.
According to the Executive Mansion, President Boakai expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the inaugural Korea-Africa Summit and reiterated Liberia’s commitment to deepening its partnership with Korea.
In response, President Yoon assured President Boakai of Korea’s willingness to forge partnerships in developing roads and other infrastructure, contingent upon detailed proposals. He also committed to providing scholarships for Liberian students to pursue studies in various disciplines in Korea and advancing agricultural development in Liberia, focusing on transferring agricultural technologies and rice production.
The Korean leader also pledged support for enhancing Liberia’s fisheries sector, renewable energy development, and the transfer of digital capabilities and technologies to Liberia. He emphasized Korea’s unwavering commitment to aiding Liberia in achieving its development objectives and overcoming its challenges, ultimately contributing to the well-being of the Liberian populace.
Concluding the meeting, President Yoon assured President Boakai of Korea’s efficient contribution to the full implementation of the Liberian Government’s ARREST Agenda. He extended a warm welcome to President Boakai and congratulated him on assuming the presidency of Liberia, expressing gratitude for Liberia’s historical support during the Korean War and highlighting the enduring 60-year relationship between the two nations.
This meeting marked President Boakai’s second major engagement of the day in Seoul. Earlier on Tuesday, he addressed a cluster of leaders at the Korea-Africa Summit, calling for concerted action to achieve Africa’s transformative future.
In his address, President Boakai urged world leaders to recognize that the future is not guaranteed without concerted efforts to leverage Africa’s potential for achieving common goals and fostering a transformed, equitable, and sustainable future for its people. He emphasized that shared growth, sustainability, and solidarity should drive global development efforts.
“This is why ‘shared growth,’ as part of the theme of this summit, should express our collective desire for growth to come with development, prosperity to be inclusive, and for the dividends of development to benefit all people, not just a privileged few,” President Boakai said.
He highlighted the need to pursue shared growth and a shared future in alignment with Agenda 2063, the pan-African effort to promote collective prosperity, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the World Sustainable Development Goals.
President Boakai called for the Summit to foster South-South cooperation to address mutual developmental issues in the global south, emphasizing that no nation can tackle complex global challenges alone. “It is by standing together in solidarity that we can bring our collective efforts to bear in tackling climate change, disease, poverty, and other problems that plague us collectively,” he said.
He praised the people of Korea for demonstrating the importance of human capital in transforming a nation’s future and stressed the need for sustainable development practices. “Resources are not infinite; therefore, the judicious use or exploitation of our collective natural wealth must always be considered to maintain a sustainable earth for future generations,” President Boakai noted.
He also underscored Liberia’s commitment to promoting a sustainable future by leveraging its equatorial rainforest to combat climate change. He highlighted that the nations represented at the Summit, which account for about a fifth of the world’s population, must work together in solidarity to address environmental challenges.
Recognizing the Republic of Korea as a true friend and partner, President Boakai emphasized that Liberia has much to learn from Korea in its quest for a transformative future.
The 2024 Korea-Africa Summit, held on Tuesday in Ilsan, saw participation from African heads of delegations and heads of Africa-related international organizations under the theme “The Future We Make Together: Shared Growth, Sustainability, and Solidarity.”
On Wednesday, the 2024 Korea-Africa Business Summit will take place in Seoul, where heads of state and government and business leaders from Korea and Africa will jointly participate, focusing on trade and investment.
Over the past four decades, South Korea has demonstrated remarkable economic growth and global integration, becoming a high-tech industrialized economy. In the 1960s, its GDP per capita was comparable to levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. By 2004, South Korea had joined the trillion-dollar club of world economies.
During a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on the summit’s sidelines, President Boakai called for assistance to address Liberia’s multifaceted challenges.
President Yoon announced that South Korea will expand development aid to Africa and pursue deeper cooperation with the region of 1.3 billion people on critical minerals and technology. In a speech, Yoon urged African countries to take firmer steps in an international pressure campaign against North Korea. The North recently accelerated its tests of nuclear-capable weapons systems and flew hundreds of balloons to drop tons of trash and manure on South Korea, further straining relations between the two countries.
Africa’s 54 states are an important bloc at the United Nations and hold three rotating seats on the Security Council. Representatives from 48 African nations, including 25 heads of state, are attending South Korea’s two-day summit, where talks are focusing on trade and investment.
