General Assembly President travels to Asia for two-nation tour

The President of the General Assembly is on his way to the Republic of Korea and the Philippines for talks with senior officials from both countries that will focus on interfaith dialogue, economic development and other issues.

Ali Treki travels first to Seoul, the Korean capital, for meetings with that country’s President Lee Myung-bak, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyung-O, his office announced today.

The General Assembly President will then head to Manila for a five-day official visit that will include his attendance at the Special Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue for Peace and Development.

Before he left United Nations Headquarters in New York, Dr. Treki met yesterday with Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba and other senior officials from the African country.

The social and economic targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which world leaders have pledged to try to attain by 2015, topped the agenda of the talks between Dr. Treki and Mr. Bongo Ondimba, according to information released by the Assembly President’s office.

The two officials also discussed the situations in Africa and the Middle East, climate change, UN reform and economic development issues.