UAE and South Korea’s non-oil trade stands at $4.9 billion in 2019

The economic relations between the UAE and South Korea have witnessed considerable development in all sectors. The volume of non-oil trade between the UAE and South Korea reached $4.9 billion in 2019, said Abdullah Ghurair Al Qubaisi, Deputy Director General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI).

He revealed during the first online B2B matchmaking event organised for Emirati and Korean businesses that the UAE import from Korea reached to $3.8 billion and Emirati exports to Korea was $715.6 million last year.The UAE also re-exported $437.4 of products to Korea. The trade balance surplus was in favor of South Korea with around $2.7 billion.

The Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry has organised its first online B2B matchmaking event, which witnessed the participation of more than 100 Emirati and Korean businesses.

This virtual online meeting is held instead of a physical one considering the current Coronavirus pandemic and the applied precautionary measure including social distancing.

Abdullah Ghurair Al Qubaisi said that the Chamber exerts hard efforts to support the business community and regulate its affairs in Abu Dhabi as well as help stabilise it economically, especially under the current global economic situation.

“However, the Abu Dhabi Chamber keeps on supporting the hard efforts of the government in Abu Dhabi and the UAE in confronting the challenges of the pandemic, managing the crisis to insure business continuity, and in activating the role of the private sector in the economic development,” he added.

Al Qubaisi pointed out that the Chamber’s Representative Office in Seoul coordinated and agreed with Korea International Trade Association to organise this online B2B matchmaking between Emirati businesses and their Korean counterparts from small and medium enterprises specialized in various sectors including general trading, consumables, healthcare, cosmetics and food and beverages.

The Deputy Director General noted that the UAE and Korea are celebrating their 40th anniversary of diplomatic relationship this month thanks to the wise leadership of both countries.

Al Qubaisi said that the number of Korean companies registered at the UAE Ministry of Economy rose to 138; and the number of the registered agencies at the ministry is 215 ones, whereas the number of registered Korean trademarks is 3,802.

Additionally, the volume of Korean investments in the UAE stood at $2,678 million.

Al Qubaisi stated that these numbers point to a huge progress for the relationship between the two sides in the future, which reflects the will of the two countries’ leaderships in realizing their joint interest in pushing the wheel of economic relations forward.

For his part, Hyun Chul Kim, Executive Managing Director of Global Marketing Group — KITA, said that the meeting is an outcome to the exceptional cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Chamber considering the cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding that bind the two sides together.

He added that together the Abu Dhabi Chamber and KITA work continuously to benefit all parties and to promote for investments and trade opportunities that allow Korean businesses to enter Abu Dhabi markets and which would help develop the economic relations between the two countries.

Humaid Mohammed Bin Salem, Secretary-General of the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Kim Young-ju, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), recently discussed was of enhancing the cooperation between Emirati business leaders and KITA’s members in videoconferencing meeting. Humaid Bin Salem stated that the meeting involved preliminary discussions on the key articles and clauses to be included in a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, that will be signed soon, which will reflect the interest of the Emirati private sector in strengthening its commercial ties with South Korea.

He added that the MoU will be part of the federation’s joint work with KITA, which involves exchanging information, exploring investments and commercial opportunities for Emirati and Korean companies, supporting the establishment of bilateral partnerships, and holding economic events, such as conferences, seminars and exhibitions.

KITA is a leading organisation and has thousands of members operating under its umbrella, he further added, stressing that small and medium-sized enterprises in the UAE can benefit from their expertise.

Kim highlighted the importance of the MoU between KITA and the federation, which will strengthen their cooperation in exchanging expertise, organising delegations, and holding conferences and events, to benefit both countries in the post-COVID-19 period.

KITA is ready to support and help business owners, which will increase their confidence in investing in both countries, Kim added.

WAM