Speaker Kang visiting SE Asia

National Assembly Speaker Kang Chang-hee departed Sunday for Southeast Asia, where he will discuss how to build Korea’s economic ties with Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar, his office said.

Kang Chang-hee National Assembly Speaker

Kang, of the ruling Saenuri Party, will travel first to Vietnam, where he will meet with President Truong Tan Sang and others to discuss the possibility of signing of a bilateral free trade agreement.

In Hanoi he will also discuss exportation of Korean nuclear reactors and involvement of Korean firms in major Vietnamese infrastructure projects.

In Bangkok, he will meet with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and other officials and lawmakers to discuss ways to bolster trade between the sides. He is said to be interested in getting Korean companies involved in water management projects there.

Kang will then meet with Myanmar’s President Thein Sein in the administrative capital of Naypyidaw, making him the first National Assembly speaker to visit the reforming state. In the talks, Kang will discuss a potential bilateral investment guarantee pact as well as development assistance efforts there.