SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Wednesday he hopes a South Korean-led information technology project in Rwanda will contribute to producing talented human resources in the sector and to the African nation's goal of becoming an IT hub on the continent.

   Lee made the remark during a summit meeting with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame on the sidelines of an international development assistance conference in the port city of Busan that drew thousands of people from 160 countries around the world.

   Kagame praised South Korea for becoming a global IT power and said his country hopes to follow Korea's example and turn itself into an IT and economic hub in eastern Africa, according to a statement from the presidential office.

   Lee said South Korea is focusing its development assistance on capacity building of recipient nations, noting that a Seoul-funded project to establish the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Center at the National University of Rwanda will contribute to producing talented people, the statement said.

   Lee also said that friendly relations between the two countries have been expanding since a bilateral summit in 2008, including establishing a diplomatic mission in each other's nation, and asked for Kagame's support for Korean firms carrying out energy and infrastructure projects in Rwanda.

   jschang@yna.co.kr
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