The 14th Korea-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee to be Held

2007-11-07 16:42
Seoul--(뉴스와이어)--The 14th Korea-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee will be held in Seoul on November 8, with the Korean Minister for Trade Kim Jong-hoon and the Saudi Minister for Economy and Planning Khalid Al-Gosaibi as heads of delegation, respectively. 30 officials from relevant ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade are expected to attend this committee from the Korean side. As for the Saudi side, 28 people from 19 ministries including the Ministry of Economy and Planning will participate in this meeting.

During this meeting which takes place in three years after the 13th meeting in 2004 in Saudi Arabia, we hope to reconfirm Saudi Arabia’s will to steadily provide oil to Korea. Also, in order to maintain the momentum for cooperation we have gained by President Roh Moo-hyun’s visit to Saudi Arabia in March 2007, the two countries will discuss ways to promote cooperation in various areas beyond the current ones in oil and construction, such as information and communication, science and technology, agriculture, maritime affairs and fisheries, education, culture and security.

Noting that Saudi Arabia has been pushing forward economic development projects in all of its industrial sectors, we will discuss ways to increase Korean companies’ activities in Saudi Arabia by focusing on building new cities. We will also share our experiences and technologies on sectors that Saudi Arabia needs.

With oil reserves accounting for 22% of world oil deposits, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil exporter to Korea and the fourth largest trade partner, according to the 2006 statistics. Korean construction companies have made contracts worth of $3.62 billion for last year. It is expected that this 14th Korea-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee will serve as an opportunity to strengthen the current collaborative ties to promote further cooperation in various areas with Saudi Arabia.