The Minister for Foreign Action and European Union,Meritxell Serret i Aleu, announced today from Seoul that the Government of Catalonia is beginning to draw up a work plan to promote and coordinate relations between all its ministries and Korean institutions, the Korea Plan. 

She was speaking after the meetings held, along with President Pere Aragonès, during the first days of the institutional visit to Korea. Today they attended a meeting at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism. The meeting provided an opportunity to share the priorities of the new Government Delegation to South Korea.

The Korea Plan will establish a framework for stable relations between the two governments and all their ministries, but also between the various civil society and business actors in both countries. In statements to the press, Serret explained that“the work plan will be multiannual and will help to structure more and better relations of trust with South Korea, a strategic country for Catalonia for many years”.

For many years now, the Catalan Government has had a similar plan, the Japan Plan, to develop relations with Japan, in coordination with the Japanese Government. As a result of the positive assessment made by both countries, the Catalan Government will draw up a similar plan for relations with the Republic of Korea.

Catalan Government tightens ties with the European Union

Aragonès and Serret also met with the European Union Ambassador to South Korea, María Castillo, with the aim of continuing to intensify relations with the European institutions and coordinating strategies in the area of foreign action. “We want to be aligned and collaborate with European strategies. We will also do it in a few days in Japan”, Serret told the media.

The meeting served to identify a number of areas that are priorities for the Government of Catalonia and for EU-Republic of Korea relations, such as the digital transition, the green transition, multilateralism, student mobility, industrial policy and emergency management.

In this respect, one of the sectors where there is precisely greater coordination between the Catalan Government and the European Union is in development cooperation. In fact, today the Government of Catalonia approved a contribution of 1.5 million euros to the European Commission to take part in and finance a European project to combat gender-based violence in Mozambique.

Minister Serret previously met with the EU representative, during her institutional visit to Tunisia in June, and plans to do so again during this week’s trip to Japan.