President Moon's First Summit Call of the Year with Costa Rica's President... "We Would Appreciate Your Visit to Costa Rica"
[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] "Former President Roh Moo-hyun was the last president of the Republic of Korea to visit Costa Rica." Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of Costa Rica, brought up his connection with former President Roh during a phone call with President Moon Jae-in on the 22nd.
Kang Min-seok, spokesperson for the Blue House, explained, "President Moon had the first summit call of the year with President Alvarado of Costa Rica for 30 minutes starting at 11 a.m. today. This call was initiated at the suggestion of Costa Rica to discuss cooperation on COVID-19 response and economic cooperation such as the Green New Deal."
President Moon and President Alvarado exchanged stories recalling former President Roh Moo-hyun’s visit to Costa Rica in 2005.
President Moon said, "I especially thank you for remembering former President Roh Moo-hyun," and congratulated Costa Rica on its 200th anniversary of independence this year and on becoming the 38th member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) worldwide. President Alvarado said, "We would be grateful if President Moon could visit Costa Rica," adding, "The Costa Rican government has continuously supported President Moon’s peace process on the Korean Peninsula."
President Moon conveyed, "I appreciate the president’s evaluation of Korea as a model country for COVID-19 prevention and his hope that Costa Rica becomes the Korea of the Americas." Earlier, in his May 2022 state of the nation address, President Alvarado praised Korea’s COVID-19 response and innovation in science and technology, expressing his hope that Costa Rica would be called the "Korea of the Americas."
The government provided in-kind support of KF-94 masks worth one million dollars to Costa Rica and shared quarantine know-how through video conferences. President Alvarado said, "President Moon’s Green New Deal and Digital New Deal policies align with the policy direction and aspirations of the Costa Rican government," and brought up the issue of the bidding for the decarbonization metropolitan electric train project.
The metropolitan electric train project aimed at reducing exhaust emissions has a total project cost of 1.55 billion dollars. Construction is planned to be ordered in the first half of this year. Korea has formed a public-private consortium including the Korea National Railway, Hyundai Engineering, and Dohwa Engineering.
President Moon said, "If the world’s top-level Korean companies can participate in the projects actively promoted by the president to realize decarbonization, it is expected to create a new turning point for decarbonization cooperation between the two countries," and requested attention.
Furthermore, President Moon said, "I understand that the Costa Rican government is currently promoting a ‘digital government’ goal, including the ‘digital fiscal integration system.’ I ask the president to take an interest so that the technology and know-how of our government and companies can be shared."
Regarding the electric train project, President Alvarado said, "I am well aware that Korea has many companies with excellent technology and am waiting for their participation," and added, "I would like to meet in person to discuss various pending issues and cooperation matters."
Meanwhile, President Alvarado explained that Costa Rica is the chair country of the Central American Integration System (SICA) for the first half of this year and said, "Costa Rica can serve as a bridgehead to lead projects with other Central American countries in Korea," and repeatedly invited President Moon, saying, "We would appreciate it if you could attend the important SICA summit in June."
President Moon and President Alvarado continued their conversation on topics such as Korean soju, kimchi, K-pop, and Korean films. President Moon expressed hope that "Costa Rica, as a traditional ally, will deepen the comprehensive cooperative partnership between the two countries," and requested attendance at the P4G summit in Seoul in May.
President Alvarado said, "I am confident that Korea will successfully host the P4G summit and intend to attend."
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