South Korea and Africa’s exchange of ideas and experience can go further. An avenue which would allow the fulfilling of both the cultural and economic aspirations of the relations could be the formation of sister-cities; pairing each of South Korea’s major cities’ governments with those of Africa and forging a kind of ‘Mayoral Korea-Africa Forum’ as well accompanying that with population exchange programmes. 

Newly appointed ambassadors to 12 different countries today discussed on adopting economic diplomacy to enhance Nepal’s trade and commerce relations. [...] Newly appointed ambassadors to Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Myanmar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Qatar participated in the programme.

UAE Minister of Economy Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri recently received Francisca Elizabeth Mendez Escobar, Mexico's new Ambassador to the UAE, with whom he discussed ways to enhance cooperation in a number of priority areas for both countries. The meeting held at the ministry's Dubai headquarters touched on the results of the recent visit of a UAE delegation to Mexico headed by the minister, which identified various priority sectors of mutual interest for cooperation between the two countries.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade (MODSIT) and the World Bank launched a joint programme of technical assistance and advisory services to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to enhance the competitiveness of the private sector and unleash the potential of Sri Lankan exports.

The Korea-Africa Business Forum and Cultural Exchange in Busan, has the specific goals of making the Bank's 53rd Annual Meetings successful by promoting the Korean general public's and private sector's interests in Africa. [...] The AfDB has put a lot of efforts to support the Korean private sector's investment ventures in Africa. For instance, the Bank's Asia External Representation Office (SNAR) has been providing the latest information and news to the private sector and hosting events about "Doing business in and with Africa."

China and the Philippines agreed on Friday to strengthen trade and economic cooperation between the two countries after the conclusion of a high-level meeting. [...] "China would like to work with the Philippines to deepen China-ASEAN relations, properly handle South China Sea issue, jointly safeguard stability in the South China Sea and maintain the good momentum of development in China-ASEAN relations," Wang Yang said.

Boris Johnson yesterday signalled he backs building a new royal yacht to boost Britain’s international influence after Brexit. The Foreign Secretary insisted a new Royal Yacht Britannia would ‘add greatly’ to the UK’s ‘soft power’. It was the first time the plan has been openly backed by a minister in the House of Commons.

She said India's investments in Africa had also received a boost in recent years as African countries were receiving strong investment interest from India due to their high growth markets and mineral rich reserves. Indian President Shri Pranab Mukherjee said his Government was committed to further strengthening partnerships with Africa for mutual benefit.