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Envoy proud of Brazilian’s achievements
Brazilian Ambassador Edmundo Fujita said that development in the South American nation which made it the world’s seventh largest economy was possible because of the hard work and persistence of Brazilians despite daunting socioeconomic challenges.
“Brazil has been striving continuously to overcome one difficulty after another, one crisis after another throughout almost 200 years,” he said during a speech at a dinner to commemorate Brazil’s National Day held at The Sheraton Grande Walkerhill in Seoul, Friday.
Foreign diplomats, Korean government officials and business leaders, and ethnic Brazilians living in Seoul attended the event.
Ambassador Fujita noted that Brazil has a strong science and math tradition, citing Artur Avila, one of four winners of the Fields Medal awarded at the International Congress of Mathematicians at COEX in Seoul in August.
Avila was born and studied in Brazil and earned his Ph.D. from the National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics in Brazil, the envoy noted.
The mathematician has dual citizenship of Brazil and France.
Beginning with the gala dinner last week, the Embassy of Brazil is hosting a set of events featuring Brazilian cuisine and culture which will last until the end of this week.
Korea, Myanmar ink think tank project
Korea and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a state-run think tank, tentatively dubbed the Myanmar Development Institute (MDI).
This was a follow-up to an agreement that the leaders of the two countries signed in 2012.
Under the 2012 agreement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Korean government in collaboration with the Korea Development Institute (KDI) will invest $20 million to create a research center, support infrastructure projects in Myanmar, and train experts in Myanmar to lead the country’s development projects.
The foreign ministry plans to send a delegation to Myanmar soon so the work can start before the end of the year.
The ministry remarked that Korea was able to lay the groundwork for industrialization thanks to the KDI, which was established in 1971 with help from the United States, and expressed hope that the MDI could play a similar role in the development of the Southeast Asian country.