Costa Rica's ex-first lady visits Seoul
By Yi Whan-woo
Josette Altmann Borbon
Former Costa Rican first lady Josette Altmann Borbon, who serves as the secretary general of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), visited Korea last month, according to Costa Rican Embassy in Korea.
It said it held a working meeting with Embassy of Brunei in Korea when a senior Bruneian diplomat assigned to Latin America division visited Seoul.
These were part of the embassy’s activities in April, including meetings with Korean representatives from the construction, health, renewable energy and green growth sectors.
“In the framework of promoting greater knowledge between the Latin American region and Korea, academic actions play a fundamental role,” the embassy said, adding it thanks Altmann for helping Latin America to project “more decisively” in Korea.
FLACSO is an intergovernmental organization aimed at promoting academic research, fostering graduate courses and training specialists in social sciences among the universities of its 18 member countries — Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam and Uruguay — plus an observer, Spain.
It is also aimed at sharing its knowledge including research findings with governments, parliaments, NGOs and civic societies.
Its programs cover a wide range of fields including politics, sociology, economics and culture.
Serving as first lady of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998, Altmann was the first FLACSO secretary general to visit Korea in October 2018 after it was set up in 1957.
“We’re proud that a distinguished Costa Rican academic contributes her knowledge to enrich the formulation of Korean public policies regarding Latin America,” the embassy said.
Costa Rican Ambassador to Korea Rodolfo Solano Quiro held a working meeting with Bruneian embassy officials during a visit by Muhd Husaini Pengiran Alauddin, the director general of the Division of the Americas and Europe at Brunei’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The embassy assessed the meeting was “valuable to review the progress of the bilateral agenda that both countries promote in the fields of politics, cooperation, trade and investment.”
This year mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
To bolster Korean investment on transport infrastructure in Costa Rica, the embassy invited International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK) head Lee Kun-hi and ICAK executives.
The ICAK is supported by the Korean government and has leading construction companies as members.
Lee led an ICAK delegation recently to Costa Rica.
The embassy invited representatives from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) to promote medical tourism in Costa Rica led by the Costa Rican Chamber of Health (PROMED).
The embassy said it has been stepping up efforts to help KHIDI and PROMED “to move forward” in their aim at signing an agreement and facilitating exchanges.
Embassy officials also met with senior members of the Organizing Committee of the 8th International Renewable Energy Conference (IREC) 2019. The conference will be held in Seoul in October.
The embassy underscored Costa Rica’s clean electricity matrix “has the capacity to generate energy from renewable sources," mainly from hydroelectric, geothermal and wind power plants, and that it will be an “importance reference” at the conference.
The ambassador thanked the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), a global organization aimed at promoting sustainable development, for coopering with Costa Rica with “great willingness.”