President Moon Jae-in visits Laos today following his trip to Myanmar... and there he's going to look for ways to boost bilateral ties with Laos and also with the Greater Mekong region.<br />Our Park Hee-jun has this report. President Moon Jae-in completes his ASEAN tour with his final stop, Laos.<br />After visiting Thailand and Myanmar earlier this week, President Moon arrives in Laos on Thursday for a unprecedented visit by a South Korean leader.<br />"The trip to Laos between September 5 and September 6 is the first state visit by a South Korean president. We anticipate the two countries will strengthen cooperation in development, infrastructure, agriculture, and healthcare,... while accelerating South Korea-Mekong cooperation by revealing our vision, in the country which contains the greatest length of the Mekong River.”<br />With a population of around 7-million,... Laos has a GDP of 18-and-a-half billion U.S. dollars, as of 2018.<br />Dubbed 'the battery of Asia' for its abundant water resources from the Mekong River,... Laos is attracting an increasing amount of foreign investment.<br />And its economy maintains an annual economic growth rate in the six percentage range.<br />President Moon will hold a summit with his counterpart Bounnhang Vorachith in the capital, Vientiane.<br />They're to discuss ways to tighten their bilateral relations,... and to improve cooperation between Korea and ASEAN, and between Korea and the Mekong region.<br />And with Laos being a powerhouse for hydroelectric power, running 61 power plants and exporting 65 percent of its electricity to neighboring countries,... the two sides are expected to seek stronger cooperation in that area.<br />They will also sign MOUs on agriculture, ICT, and startups.<br />And later in the day when Moon visits the Mekong River, he will lay out a more detailed vision for relations between Korea and the Mekong region.<br />That region includes countries like Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.<br />"With his visit to Laos, President Moon will fulfill his promise of visiting all ten ASEAN nations within his term. And as Laos is a relatively niche market, President Moon seeks to increase Korea's presence in the country, particularly by tapping into the infrastructure industry along the Mekong River. Park Hee-jun, Arirang News, Yangon."<br />
