[naewoeilbo내외일보]Lee  Su Han이수한 기자=The Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in the Republic of Korea participated in Seoul Friendship Festival 2019, organized by Seoul metropolitan office. The festival was held in Seoul city hall from 31 August to 1 September 2019. 
H.E Park woon son Seoul Mayer opened the festival with attendance of head of diplomatic corps, representatives of cultural associations and huge crowd of local and foreigners. 

During the opening ceremony, His Excellency Mohammed bin Salim Al Harthy, Oman Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, delivered a welcoming speech on behalf of the heads of diplomatic missions, noting the importance of the International Friendship Festival, which plays a major role in strengthening the communication and friendship among people and promoting understanding, tolerance, existence and peace. He also said that it comes as part of public diplomacy and in that reaffirmed the support of the embassies of the Korean efforts in public diplomacy.

The Embassy of Oman booth included a wide variety of display items of various cultural aspects including photo exhibition landscape which shows Oman natural beauty, geological landscape, tourism attractions and modernization.  Visitors to the booth were also introduced to Omani hospitality such as dates, Omani halwa and coffee and smell of luban “frankincense” with hands-on experience on Omani culture. 

Al-Ajial performance team for Omani Arts also participated in the festival with a variety of traditional dances. The participation was represented by the Muscat Municipality within the framework of the cooperation between Muscat Municipality and the Seoul metropolitan office, here a Korean art group participated in the Muscat Festival 2019.
His Excellency Mohammed Al Harthy, ambassador of Oman said the Oman embassy in Korea is keen to participate in various cultural and artistic events to introduce Oman’s history, heritage, culture, civilization and modern renaissance in addition to promoting tourist attractions and investment opportunities. He said the participation comes within the framework of the public diplomacy of the embassy.  The Omani pavilion witnessed an unprecedented turnout through the various exhibits and the smell of frankincense that attracted the attention of the public.