STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY HIFIKEPUNYE POHAMBA, PRESIDENT
OF THE REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA
ON THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL
TALKS BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF
NAMIBIA AND THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA

20 MARCH 2008 WINDHOEK

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Your Excellency, Comrade Kim Yong Nam, President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Honourable Ministers of Korea and Namibia
Distinguished Members of the Korean and Namibian Delegations
Distinguished Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to once again, welcome Your Excellency and your entire delegation to the Republic of Namibia. We are indeed pleased to have you amongst us. Please do feel at home because you are among friends and comrades.

On behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Namibia and indeed on my own behalf, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Your Excellency for accepting my invitation to visit our country and to join us in the celebrations of our 18th Independence Anniversary. I recall that Your Excellency had joined us during our independence celebrations on 21st March 1990, when you were Foreign Minister, you led the delegation from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to that historic event.

This time around, you will also have the opportunity to join us in witnessing the inauguration of our new State House to which your country has contributed immensely.

In the same vein, I wish to express our appreciation to Comrade Kim Jong IL for his visionary leadership that has helped to foster excellent bilateral relations that so happily exist between our two countries and peoples.

These Official Talks provides us with a welcome opportunity to review and expand the scope of bilateral co-operation between our two countries. The Namibian side wishes to specifically explore further co-operation in the areas of trade and commerce, transport and communication, defence, agriculture and energy. We also wish to co-operate with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the important areas such as health care, education and environmental issues.

As we pursue stronger bilateral co-operation, the Agreement on Economic, Scientific and Technical Co-operation that was signed by our two countries in 1993, provides us with a solid framework to achieve our common goals for the mutual benefit of our countries and peoples.
I am pleased that today, our two countries will sign bilateral Agreements in the fields of health and diplomatic consultations.

These Agreements will, among other things, allow our two countries to exchange medical experts, share information on issues related to medical care, as well as on science and technology. They will also facilitate regular exchange of views on bilateral and multilateral matters of common interest.

Your Excellency,

Namibia applauds your Government’s commitment towards the peaceful re-unification of the Korean Peninsula. We were especially encouraged by the Declaration calling for peace and joint prosperity following the Six-Party-Talks Summit held in Pyongyang in 2007. The completion and successful implementation of this Declaration will greatly contribute to the social and economic development, internal peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.




Our two countries share a commonality of views regarding the promotion of international peace and security. As members of the United Nations, both our countries are actively contributing to the search for world peace and security as well as the reform of the United Nations.

The reform and democratization of the UN, especially the expansion of the UN Security Council, will enable it to serve humanity and to adequately reflect the composition of our changing world. It will also enable other regions of the world to have their voices heard in all organs of the UN system. I trust that these Official Talks will serve to re-energise bilateral co-operation between our two countries. It is our wish to see increased co-operation between Namibia and the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea in the coming years. I take his opportunity to wish both delegations to the Official Talks fruitful deliberations.

I thank you.