Choo Kyung-ho: "Korea-UAE Economic Joint Committee to Meet in Seoul in First Half of This Year"

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The governments of South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to hold the 8th Korea-UAE Economic Joint Committee in Seoul during the first half of this year.

On the 18th (local time), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho and UAE Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri discussed key issues including follow-up measures from the bilateral summit in Davos, Switzerland, and reached this agreement.

The two ministers shared the view that this summit will serve as a groundbreaking momentum to expand economic cooperation between the two countries, including investments worth $30 billion through the UAE sovereign wealth fund. They also agreed to strengthen the role of the Economic Joint Committee, the highest-level regular economic cooperation platform between the two countries, to materialize the outcomes of the summit.

To this end, existing cooperation areas such as energy and nuclear power will be upgraded to a higher level, and cooperation targets will be expanded to advanced new industries such as biotechnology and aerospace, as well as defense and cultural contents. Regarding cooperation in the investment sector, a core achievement of this summit, they will cooperate to establish consultation channels to ensure visible results are achieved early.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo attended the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEF, Davos Forum), accompanying President Yoon Suk-yeol at major official events such as the global CEO luncheon and Korea Night, while holding bilateral meetings with high-level officials to explore economic cooperation measures.

At Davos, Deputy Prime Minister Choo visited the Indonesia Pavilion and held talks with Indonesia’s Minister of Maritime Investment Coordination, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. This was their first meeting since agreeing to launch the 'High-Level Investment Dialogue' between the two ministers at the G20 Summit in November last year.

Minister Luhut expressed expectations that the High-Level Investment Dialogue will become the fastest and most efficient decision-making system for promoting major cooperative projects agreed upon by the two heads of state.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo requested Minister Luhut’s special attention and support for Korean companies’ investment projects in Indonesia, and Minister Luhut responded that he would strive to ensure the smooth implementation of these projects.

Based on this shared understanding, the two ministers agreed to hold the '1st Korea-Indonesia High-Level Investment Dialogue' in South Korea in March this year.