Yonhap reported that South Korea and Ecuador agreed to strengthen bilateral ties especially in the fields of energy development and infrastructure construction.

According to Mr Lee's office Cheong Wa Dae, Mr Lee Myung bak President of South Korea and his Ecuadorean counterpart Mr Rafael Correa had an in depth discussion on how to work together to make substantial progress in a wide range of areas, including trade and investment, IT, energy, resources, infrastructure construction, development collaboration, the environment and bilateral cooperation in the international arena.

Mr Lee called on Mr Correa to provide active support for South Korean corporations to participate particularly in building energy infrastructure, constructing oil refinery facilities and developing energy and mineral resources.

Mr Correa, meanwhile, asked South Korea to expand development assistance for his country. In response, Mr Lee said that his government plans to increase loans and grants for economic cooperation with Ecuador in the fields of solar and wind power generation.

After the summit, the two leaders attended the signing ceremony of two documents on bilateral cooperation on exporting South Korea's electronic customs clearance system and on boosting their partnerships in the environment and IT sector. State invested petroleum companies of the two nations also exchanged a letter of intent on mutual cooperation.

During his stay, Mr Correa is also scheduled to meet a group of South Korean business leaders and tour industrial facilities including SK's petroleum complex, Hyundai Heavy Industries and two state funded research centers, the Korean Development Institute and the Korean Institute of Science and Technology.

(Sourced from www.yonhapnews.co.kr)