President Park Geun-hye stressed Monday that she would concentrate her efforts on bolstering the country’s economic diplomacy with other nations.

“I will visit anywhere to help the country’s economy to take a leap forward and put all my efforts into boosting the achievements of the country’s economic diplomacy,” Park said in a debate hosted by business leaders to review the economic accomplishments attained during her recent visit to three Central Asian nations.

The president added that she would consider visiting countries where Korean companies wish to expand or enter the market.

The meeting was held by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and it was her first time to attend such a meeting after an overseas trip.

Last month, the president visited Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to expand economic cooperation and seek their support for her Eurasia Initiative. The initiative calls for linking roads and railways across the continent to connect South Korea directly to Europe, through North Korea, Russia and China. Park believes that the vision could create a large single market to compete with the European Union.

During her trip, delegates signed $31.8 billion worth of new business projects with the three nations and helped Korean companies maintain $21.4 billion worth of existing contracts.

Park’s remark on economic diplomacy came alongside with her efforts to speed up the implementation of her economic agenda in the second half of the year, and to move on from the Sewol ferry disaster.

Starting with a meeting with business leaders late last month, Park invited representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises to Cheong Wa Dae and accompanied Chinese President Xi Jinping to a business forum held in Seoul last week.

On Monday afternoon, the president also met Steven Chu, former U.S. Secretary of Energy and Fudan University president Yang Yuliang to share their visions on climate change and technology cooperation.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)