Lee reiterates commitment to bolster cooperation with Africa

SEOUL, July 13 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak reiterated his commitment Wednesday to bolster South Korea's cooperation with Africa, saying the continent will be a great source of demand for the global economy in the coming decade.
Lee made the remark during a biweekly radio address summing up his 10-day trip to South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia that was aimed at securing a foothold for South Korea's efforts to break into the untapped continent.
"Africa is no longer a backward continent with poverty and civil war," Lee said during the address. "A massive continent with the population of 1 billion and rich resources is rising up."
Since 2000, six of the 10 nations with the highest economic growth were in Africa and the International Monetary Fund predicted that by 2015 the continent's growth rate would exceed Asia's, Lee said.
"In a decade, Africa is expected to become a driving force that will lead a sustained growth of the world economy while creating an enormous demand through high economic growth," Lee said. "We have to change our perceptions about Africa and prepare for the Africa of tomorrow."
Lee said South Korea declared this year as the first year of greater cooperation with Africa, and the focus of the cooperation will be on helping African nations get their economies to stand on their own.