Tunisian Ambassador Bids Farewell to Korea
By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
In September, Korean diplomatic circles bid farewell to many ambassadors, and the first one to depart was the Tunisian ambassador.
Ambassador Moncef Baati of Tunisia left Korea Sunday.
Ambassadors' last days at a post are some of the busiest during their tenure, and Baati's last days were no exception.
His last days were filled with farewell occasions with Korean government officials, fellow ambassadors and other friends around him, he told The Korea Times Wednesday.
``I will miss Korea. I have so many friends here. For sure this pretty country will not easily be forgotten,'' said the ambassador who was to end his two-year tenure that began October 2005. He had transferred from his previous post in Sweden.
Tunisia was the first African country in which Korea opened an embassy in the African continent. It was in the 1960s, Baati said, and is a true reflection of a deep and long friendship between Korea and Tunisia.
Also what created intimacy in him toward Korea was a similarity that the two countries share: focus on human resources and a desire for peace.
``Tunisia relies greatly on power of human brain and cultivating it endlessly as Korea does. Development of brain resources in Tunisia is the primary focus," he said.
Maybe inevitably, science and technology will also be a field of concentration in Tunisia, Baati said. He hoped for more cooperation with Korea.
A memorandum of understanding on science and technology was signed between the two countries last year.
Offering drinks and deserts of Tunisian delicacy and dates, he also touched on the agricultural industries in Tunisia.
Dates are a type of fruit that originated in northern Africa, and have been primary food in the Middle Eastern diet for thousands of years.
Actually Tunisia is the No.1 exporter of dates and the second largest olive exporter after the European Union.
Baati wished luck and peace on the Korean Peninsula, congratulating on the inter-Korean summit scheduled for Oct. 2-4 in Pyongyang. ``Korea deserves peace. You make tremendous efforts to make peace.''
Ban Ki-moon, who serves as secretary-general of the United Nation, was also mentioned as a symbol of peacemaking for the Korean Peninsula.
Baati's next move is yet to be decided; so is the appointment of the next Tunisian ambassador to Korea.
Along with Baati, El Salvadoran Ambassador Alfredo F.Ungo, Japanese Ambassador Shotaro Oshima and Romanian Ambassador Valeriu Arteni are to depart in September.