Since the creation of the first Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2016 with Raül Romeva, Catalan foreign action has focused mainly on Europe and the Mediterranean area. The application of article 155 of the Constitution dismantled almost the entire network of foreign delegations. However, this coming Monday, with the inauguration of the delegation in Seoul, Minister Meritxell Serret considers that a year in which the Government “has relaunched foreign action” to place it “at the first level” ends.
Pere Aragonès leads the trip to South Korea. Catalonia maintains a long-lasting relationship with certain regions and Korean companies. On Monday, the president and the councilor will meet with the governor of Gyeonggi, the most populated region in the country and with which the Generalitat has maintained contacts since 1999. Gyeonggi is considered an economic and industrial power of this Asian country. The Catalan delegation intends, in the words of Serret, to remake and at the same time reinforce the bilateral agreement with this region.
The visit to South Korea is four days. The councilor wanted to highlight today the appointment that she and Aragonès will hold with Lotte Energy Materials on Thursday. The company acquired Iljin Materials in March 2023 and the investment in Catalonia, according to the Catalan Executive, could reach 1.2 billion euros, which would mean about 500 workplaces. Not in vain, Lotte plans to build a plant in Mont-roig del Camp to manufacture elecfoil, an essential copper material for lithium batteries in the world of electric automotive.
In any case, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in response to the media on the street in Seoul, wanted to highlight today the effort of the Generalitat to once again have an extensive network of delegations, with more than twenty that cover some seventy countries. Serret recalled that the president has traveled to fifteen countries during his term; the councillor, to 23 on 35 occasions in just fourteen months.
On Friday, Aragonès is scheduled to return to Catalonia, while Serret will continue his trip and travel to Japan, where the Generalitat is establishing the second foreign delegation in Asia. Its inauguration is planned for the first half of 2024.
