State Visit of the President of the Republic of Korea, Park Geun-hye – Brasilia and Sao Paulo, April 24-25, 2015

The President of the Republic of Korea, Park Geun-hye, accompanied by high-level delegation and business mission, will pay State visit to Brazil on April 24-25, 2015.

On April 24, President Park Geun-hye will be hosted by President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia. During the meeting, they will address themes of the bilateral and global agendas and will discuss ways to deepen cooperation between the two countries. Initiatives in the fields of trade, investments, science, technology and innovation, education, culture and energy, will be particularly discussed.

In Sao Paulo, on April 24, President Park will attend a business meeting held by the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo (FIESP) and the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). On the 25th, the President will hold meetings with businessmen and representatives of the Korean community in Brazil and will attend a Korean music and fashion cultural event.

Brazil was the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Korea, in 1959. Recent developments in the Brazil-South Korea relationship are characterized by the expansion of South Korean investments in Brazil, by increased academic cooperation, by the intensification of the bilateral agenda in the field of high technology and by the growth of bilateral trade flows. The Republic of Korea is Brazil's biggest partner in Asia in the "Science without Borders" program. Since 2012, it has welcomed 525 Brazilian students to its universities and research centers. More than 100 South Korean companies, most of them with investments in Brazil, offer professional internships for students participating in the program.

In 2014, bilateral trade totaled US$ 12 billion, making the Republic of Korea the third-largest partner of Brazil in Asia (after China and Japan) and the seventh-largest worldwide. Brazil is the biggest trading partner of South Korea in Latin America. The estimated stock of South Korean investments in Brazil is US$ 3.8 billion (2013), with emphasis on semiconductors, machinery and equipment, electronics, steel and iron, and automotive industries.