President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus received letters of credence from the Ambassador of Malaysia Kamarudin Bin Mustafa and the Ambassador of South Korea Geun-hyeong Yim.

Accepting letters of credence from the Malaysian Ambassador, the President underlined that although Lithuania and Malaysia had been developing diplomatic relations for seventeen years now, they still had a lot to accomplish.

"Lithuanian tourists are discovering Malaysia as a place of exquisite natural and cultural landscape. We therefore hope that through your active and consistent work you will also encourage Malaysian business people, tourists and students to discover Lithuania – a promising and dynamic EU member state," the President said.

The President expressed hope that the ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement between the EU and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) would be successful and the agreement would be beneficial for bilateral trading between Lithuania and Malaysia.

In the ceremony of accepting letters of credence from the South Korean Ambassador, the President pointed up that the visa-free regime and cultural and academic exchanges between the two countries would bring forth new fruits of cooperation between business communities.

According to President Adamkus, Lithuania's membership in the European Union opens up new opportunities to develop further its economic relations with Malaysia and South Korea. He underlined the need to organize business missions and encourage Malaysian and South Korean business communities to make use of the advantages of Lithuania as a transit country, also of its infrastructure and the Klaipėda Seaport, and invited investments in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian leader said he hoped Malaysia and South Korea would support the idea to hold the first meeting of ASEM transport ministers in Vilnius in 2009, and invited transport sector representatives of these two countries to visit Vilnius.