UAE and Korea collaborate on key economic sectors

abu dhabi - Countries sign MoUs on SMEs and innovation, intellectual property and water desalination

The fifth UAE-Korea Economic Joint Committee ended in the capital on Monday. The two-day event focused on enhancing economic cooperation in sectors of mutual importance to the economic policies and plans of the two countries, such as technology, innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), industry and tourism.

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, led the UAE team while delegates from the Republic of Korea (ROK) were headed by Ilho Yoo, deputy prime minister and minister of strategy and finance.

This year's session included a preparatory technical meeting held on Sunday under the supervision of Eng Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Al Shehhi, Undersecretary of the UAE Ministry of Economic for Economic Affairs, and Hoe Jeong Kim, director-general for international economic affairs at the ROK ministry of strategy and finance.

The most significant outcome of the committee meeting was the signing of three key memorandums of understanding (MoUs). The first covers a knowledge sharing programme (KSP) on SMEs and Innovation between the UAE Ministry of Economy and the ROK ministry of strategy and finance.

Another MoU involves the secondment of IT experts from the Korean Intellectual Property Office (Kipo) to the UAE Ministry of Economy in line with the latter's programme for industrial property. The third is a joint development agreement (JDA) on seawater desalination between Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (Kaia) and Masdar.

Al Mansouri welcomed the Korean delegation and commended the productive bilateral relations. He noted how their commercial exchange for 2015 was able to reach $8.5 billion - inclusive of free zone activities - despite a slowdown in global economic growth.

The Minister added that South Korea's economic development, especially in the sectors of industry, modern technology and innovation, is a model worth taking advantage of in terms of experience and knowledge exchange. He also emphasised the productive cooperation of their countries which has turned the UAE into South Korea's largest trading partner in the Mena region and its second largest oil supplier. Korea, on the other hand, ranks among the UAE's most important global trading partners, the Minister noted.

Al Mansouri highlighted the UAE's outstanding economic achievements as well, saying the country's non-oil foreign trade stood at Dh1.6 trillion in 2014, inclusive of the country's free zone activities, and that it is the third largest re-export centre in the world.

The Minister invited various Korean economic sectors to benefit from the UAE's attractive trade and investment environment in order to initiate an advanced phase of partnership between their respective private sectors and business communities.

The meeting's agenda included several topics for reviewing the progress made in implementing the recommendations agreed upon during the fourth session of the Joint UAE-Korean Economic Committee in 2014.
Participants discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in key sectors, including clean and renewable energy, infrastructure, industry, intellectual property rights, innovation and SMEs, finance and public services, healthcare and medical service, education and cultural exchange, and tourism.

- business@khaleejtimes.com