Since former Bolivia Amb. de Taboada left Korea at the end of January last year, current Charge d’Affaires a.i. Mr. Luis Pablo is very active for promoting Bolivia to the public of Korea and representing his country in many occasions such as regional trip programs, for example organized by the NDNnews (www.ndnnews.co.kr) & its affiliation organization Korea Culture Ambassador Friendship Association.

Actually, he attended Incheon Global Campus tour as well as Daejeon West-Ward Culture Festival with his spouse organized by the NDNnews. In that respect, he deserves many credits in terms of his excellent diplomatic activities. On the spot of the reception venue, he received a recognition award from one local NGO group which strengthened bilateral ties between the two countries after assuming his Charge d’Affaries a.i. duty from last year.

On behalf of the Bolivia Embassy, Pablo threw a dinner reception to commemorate the 193th Anniversary of the Independence of Bolivia at the Seoul Plaza Hotel on Aug. 6th evening while many envoys from the Seoul Diplomatic Corps. such as EU Amb. Michael Reiterer, Finland Amb. Eero Suominen, Egypt Amb. Hazem M. Fahmy including ambassadors from the Central & South American region were on hand despite of summer hot season’s holidays.

What was most noteworthy among his speech, was the achievement of the First Indigenous President of Bolivia, Evo Morales Ayma so far, whose first challenge was to achieve an extreme poverty free people and to reduce social inequality.

As a result under his leadership, the Bolivian State, that has vast natural resources in each of its regions, has managed to record an average inclusive growth rate of 5% in 12 consecutive years, managing to reduce poverty from 70% to 39%, and almost eradicate illiteracy from 13% to 2%, according to Pablo.

In that regard, CDA Pablo said that today is a day of rejoicing for us, Bolivians, for having advanced so much to keep the spirit of Bolivia alive, in a dignified and sovereign people. We must congratulate ourselves for the achievements in the reduction of poverty, the eradication of illiteracy and the political & social stability, he added.

MOFAT Director-General Hur Tae-wan in charge of the Central American & Carribean Affairs said by his congratulatory message that we assume approximately 20,000 Koreans visited Bolivia last year, showing the figure is almost double from that of 2015. This phenomenon can be attributed the salt desert of Salar de Uyuni, which is on the list of must-go destinations for many Koreans, according to Hur.

In connection with such tourism field’s interest from Koreans toward Bolivia, Bolivia Charge d’Affaires. a.i. Luis Pablo said by his contribution article to the Seoulcity magazine August issue that it is a pleasure to invite to all Seoul City Magazine readers to visit Bolivia on the 193rd Bolivian National Day 2018.

In this regard, I would like to brief them on some of the most popular tourist destinations of my country including LA PAZ, POTOSÍ., UYUNI SALT DESERT, TARIJA, and last but not least SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA

Located in the heart of South America, with 36 indigenous cultures and languages, out of them Spanish, Quechua and Aymara are the most spoken. One the richest country in biodiversity, with unique landscapes and ancient history, is a territory where magic and reality becomes one. In this connection, please find some suggested astonishing places that one should consider visiting or even to write down them in one wish pocket list, Pablo said.