His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday morning held a bilateral meeting with Republic of Korea President Lee Myung-bak at the Grand Hyatt Hotel of Jeju island, Korea.

Accompanying His Majesty at the meeting were Pehin Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng, the Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Dato Haji Harun bin Hj Ismail, the Brunei Ambassador to Republic of Korea and others.

During the meeting, President Lee extended his warm welcome to His Majesty. His Majesty thanked the Korean president for the warm hospitality.

His Majesty offered his condolence to President Lee on the passing away of former President Roh.

Both leaders also discussed the direction of the development of bilateral relations and ways to promote substantive cooperation.

His Majesty and President Lee noted with satisfaction that this year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Brunei. Both leaders noted that trade between the two countries has achieved tremendous growth and that cooperation in such areas as energy and resources has gained momentum.

His Majesty and President Lee concurred on the need for both nations to expand the scope of collaboration into areas of great potential, including information and telecommunications as well as shipbuilding, going beyond energy and resources.

In addition, the two leaders agreed to make continued efforts to give impetus to people-to-people exchanges through various programmes, including youth exchanges and the awarding of scholarships to students. They also agreed to pay attention to the broadening of cultural exchange programmes. - Borneo Bulletin (2nd June 2009)