Seoul Metropolitan Council Speaker Im Man-gyun received Dato' Dr Mohammed Fadzli, deputy chief minister of Malaysia's Kelantan state government, and an official delegation at the speaker's reception room at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
The meeting marked the first official reception of a foreign delegation since the 12th Seoul Metropolitan Council was inaugurated this month, and was arranged to strengthen friendly ties with Malaysia — a key member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — at the local government and legislative level.
Im welcomed the delegation and expressed hope that "the momentum of Korea-Malaysia diplomatic cooperation, which has grown more active through recent summits and other exchanges between the two countries, will continue to expand into greater engagement at the level of local governments and councils."
During the meeting, officials introduced Seoul's talent development initiatives tied to the delegation's primary interest in technical and vocational education policy. These included the city's "Seoul-type RISE" program — a university support system centered on regional innovation — along with policies linking youth employment to advanced industries such as AI and biotech.
"Education is the most valuable investment we can make for the future," Im said, adding that he hoped the upcoming studies of Kelantan scholarship students in Korea would prove successful and "serve as fertile ground for educational exchange between our two cities."
Fadzli said Malaysia had long sent government-sponsored students to Korea, and that this year, for the first time, 10 scholarship recipients from Kelantan had been selected to begin their studies in September. He expressed hope that the students would "absorb Korea's outstanding technology and policies and become a bridge between Seoul and Kelantan."
Im said the reception of the Kelantan delegation marked the start of what the 12th Seoul Metropolitan Council intended to be a sustained and wide-ranging program of lawmaker diplomacy — one aimed at spreading Seoul's best policies globally and fostering mutually beneficial development between cities.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
