President Park Geun-hye met with Botswana's President Ian Khama to discuss ways to boost cooperation in a range of areas, including infrastructure, trade and energy, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.

Khama arrived in Seoul on Wednesday, the first visit by a Botswana president in more than two decades.

The two leaders observed the signing of a memorandum of understanding, which calls for cooperation, among other things, in building an electronic government in Botswana. The move could help South Korean companies make inroads into relevant sectors in Botswana without an open bidding.

South Korea's presidential office did not provide details of the summit, but it said before the meeting that South Korea would push for participation in infrastructure projects by its companies.

The southern African country has been seeking projects worth more than US$2.6 billion to meet power shortage and build infrastructure.

Botswana can meet less than half of its energy needs and imports about a third of its domestic consumption of electricity from South Africa.

The land-locked country is also pushing to build a railway across the Kalahari Desert into Namibia and Mozambique, a project that could diversify Botswana's export routes. (Yonhap)