The following statement was read in the House of Assembly today by the Honourable Krista Lynn Howell, Minister of Education:

Speaker, I am happy to rise in this Honourable House to welcome a delegation from the Republic of Korea, including representatives from the Ministry of Education and the Office of International Cooperation, who join us here today, as we continue to develop a working partnership related to early learning and child care and post-secondary opportunities.

Speaker, I had the opportunity to visit the Republic of Korea this past October to attend the Canada-Korea Colleges/Universities Networking Seminar. The visit was engaging and informative as we had conversations to find potential opportunities for collaboration in all areas of education.

We had one-on-one meetings with participants and discussed potential partnerships in several program areas including early learning, K-12 education, engineering, and fine arts. During these discussions, we determined that both of our jurisdictions can learn from each other.

Speaker, our province has a prominent history in developing positive working relationships with other countries. We will continue to promote Newfoundland and Labrador on the global stage while creating opportunities for our residents here at home.

I look forward to joining our guests to tour some early learning and child care centres during their visit, and to having further discussions with them on more opportunities for our jurisdictions to collaborate.

Thank you.