The President will visit Canada and Toronto for the fourth G-20 Financial Summit from Jun. 24 to 28. At the coming G-20 Summit he will meet with world leaders to discuss the progress made on earlier G-20 agreements, discuss regulations and reform in financial sectors and related international bodies and study coordination between countries in regards to the overall financial crisis around the world and economic recovery.

The President plans to secure the support of member nations on two agenda items especially – the “development agenda” and “global financial safety net” -- which will be two of the main items for the next G-20 Summit scheduled for November this year in Seoul. He will also make efforts to uphold the Standstill Agreement to prevent trade protectionism in the future and a speedy conclusion to the WTO Doha Round Negotiation.

A state visit to Panama is next from Jun. 28 to 30. The President will meet with Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli and touch on a wide range of topics covering trade, investment, resources, infrastructure, consular affairs and others matters of cooperation.

They will also exchange opinions on the G-20, climate change and other items of global concern, and release a joint statement after the talks. It will be the first time a Korean president has made a state visit to Panama since establishing official ties in 1962. Panama is a long-time friend of Korea and its biggest trade partner in South America.

Meanwhile at the third Korea-SICA (Central American Integration System) Meeting on Jun. 29, the President will make efforts to contribute further to long-held friendly ties between Korea and the South American countries by discussing ways to expand regional cooperation on a practical level. The president will then hold exclusive summit talks with the heads of other SICA member nations attending the meeting.

The president’s final destination from Jun. 30 to Jul. 2 is Mexico. He will meet with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and discuss mutual cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, airlines, infrastructure-energy, culture and consular matters, together with mutual concerns on global issues. A joint statement will be released afterwards. The President’s state visit to Mexico, the world’s 13th biggest emerging economy, is expected to bring the two countries even closer in terms of strategic partnership.