MADRID/SEOUL -- National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo met the leader of Spain's Senate to discuss ways to widen economic cooperation between the two countries, his office said Wednesday.

During their 30-minute meeting in Madrid on Tuesday, Kim and Ander Gil Garcia, president of the Senate of Spain, discussed how they could enhance cooperation in areas like renewable energy, electric vehicles, construction and infrastructure.

Kim asked for Spain's support for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan, while Gil anticipated that an envisioned plan to open direct flights connecting Seoul and Madrid and launch a Spanish cultural center in South Korea will boost exchanges between the two countries.

Kim's visit to Spain, which included a meeting with the leader of Spain's Congress of Deputies, came as part of efforts to strengthen parliamentary cooperation between the two countries after Seoul and Madrid agreed to elevate their bilateral relationship to a "strategic partnership" last year.

As part of the two-nation trip to the region, the assembly speaker is set to visit Portugal to meet President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Assembly Speaker Augusto Santos Silva. (Yonhap)