Day: June 5, 2024

Moscow confirms its readiness to support the reconciliation of Yerevan and Baku, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS.

As the Deputy Minister noted, the Russian side positively assesses the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, held in Kazakhstan on May 10-11.

“It gave the parties the opportunity to move forward on the path to peace and stability in the South Caucasus. Another important step has been taken in this direction,” Galuzin emphasized.

“Moscow has already hosted rounds of peace negotiations between Baku and Yerevan twice – in May and July 2023. We are ready to continue to provide full support for the reconciliation of the two fraternal peoples for Russia, to promote the search for mutually acceptable and balanced solutions in order to ensure the security and prosperity of all countries in the region.” he noted.

The diplomat also highly appreciated the role of Astana, which provided a platform for Armenian-Azerbaijani contacts.

Seoul, South Korea — Nearly 50 deals and agreements have been signed during South Korea’s first summit with leaders from 48 African countries to cooperate in areas such as mining, energy and manufacturing, South Korea’s industry ministry said Wednesday.

Hyosung Corp, a South Korean conglomerate, signed a contract to supply electric transformers to Mozambique worth $30 million, the ministry said in a statement

The industry ministry also signed agreements to cooperate on critical minerals with Madagascar and Tanzania in order to secure supplies for industries such as batteries, it said. 

The 47 agreements with 23 African countries were made during the summit as Asia’s fourth-largest economy seeks to tap the minerals and the vast export market in Africa.

“Despite its enormous potential, Africa still accounts for only 1-2% of South Korea’s trade and investment,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told a gathering of about 200 political and industry leaders from African countries and South Korea at a

business summit Wednesday.

“My hope is that mutually beneficial resource cooperation will be expanded,” Yoon said.

Yoon pledged on Tuesday that South Korea would increase development aid for Africa to $10 billion over the next six years, and said will offer $14 billion in export financing to promote trade and investment for South Korean companies in Africa.