African Participation
President Park Geun-hye had a summit meeting with Senegalese President Macky Sall in Seoul on June 4. The latter said that he was looking forward to Korean companies’ active participation in Plan Senegal Emergent (PSE), which is a set of 26 social infrastructure projects worth US$10.1 billion in total.
The projects include the construction of railway networks between Dakar and Mali estimated to cost US$1.5 billion, expressway construction between the mid-west and northwest parts (US$1.2 billion), tramway construction in Dakar (US$730 million), public housing construction (US$440 million), and business park construction (US$540 million). Also, Senegal is planning on free economic zones, and the Korean government promised at this time to share its expertise regarding the development of free economic zones.
The two Presidents signed a memorandum of understanding as well for closer cooperation in the marine industry. At present, Senegal is in possession of the largest port facilities in West Africa, and Korean vessels have produced 30,000 tons of fishery products a year offshore the country.
Also, similar MOUs were concluded for partnership in the fields of trade and investment. According to the agreements, a series of cooperation projects are to be launched in the form of vocational training for startups in certain sectors such as textiles and clothing, technology transfer, collaboration in the alternative energy industry, mutual trade delegation visits, and the like. In addition, the Senegalese government asked Korean companies to join its digital city project to cost US$70 million.