Seoul seeks to widen economic ties with Middle East to IT sector

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun’s week-long swing through Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, slated for Saturday through Friday, is primarily intended to help build omnidirectional and cooperative relations between South Korea and the Middle East countries, Roh’s aides said Friday.

Amid rising oil prices, the president’s trip is also expected to provide an opportunity to expand South Korea’s practical partnership with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the fields of energy resources, infrastructure construction, defense industry and information technology, the aides said.
“South Korea’s diplomacy toward the Middle East has so far been focused on securing a stable
supply of oil and increasing its construction orders. The nation is now seeking to go beyond the conventional framework to establish an omnidirectional cooperative relationship with the GCC countries,” said a ranking presidential secretary for foreign and security policies.

“We’re paying close attention to the Middle East countries’ national development strategies closely linked to their preparations for the post-oil era. With that in mind, South Korea intends to widen cooperation in the fields of the information and communications technologies through brisk sales diplomacy,” the secretary said, asking to remain anonymous.

Established in 1981 and headquartered in Riyadh, the GCC is a regional organization involving the six Arab Gulf states — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — with many economic and social objectives in mind. Roh visited the United Arab Emirates last year.

Yonhap