Dubai Chamber signs MoU with Seoul Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Seoul Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Korea, as a sideline activity of the official visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to South Korea, heading a high-ranking delegation of sheikhs, ministers and businessmen with the objective of boosting bilateral economic, trade and investment relations between the UAE and South Korea on the government and private fronts.

The MoU signing was attended by Abdul Rahman Saif Al Ghurair, 1st Vice-Chairman of Dubai Chamber, Hisham Al Shirawi, Khalid Juma Al Majid, and Omar Abdullah Al Futtaim, Board Members of Dubai Chamber, Hamad Buamim, Director General, and Nuha Safar, Director of Marketing and Communication.

The agreement stressed the need for activating and enhancing economic cooperation and commercial promotion between the two chambers of commerce, opening new channels of contact between their members and businessmen with the aim to generate effective economic partnerships, exchanging information about trade and customs legislations in both countries, participating in trade fairs and economic conferences, encouraging visits of trade delegations and missions, enhancing trade volumes, setting up joint ventures, as well as introducing and benefiting from the investment opportunities available in both countries and in different economic sectors.

Al Tayer, who is also the Head of the UAE Businessmen Delegation accompanying His Highness Sheikh Mohammed to Korea, highlighted the importance of the MoU signed between Dubai Chamber and Seoul Chamber as one of the anticipated achievements of the UAE delegation, and the agreement's main objectives in boosting the economic and trade cooperation, increasing the values of bilateral trade and attracting Korean investments to the UAE, mainly in information technology and construction sectors.

"Dubai's direct non-oil trade with South Korea reached AED 6.8 billion in 2006. Dubai's trade represents 90% of the whole UAE trade with South Korea as the UAE's major imports from Korean include machinery, vehicles and equipment. There are more than 113 Korean companies operating in Dubai and registered at Dubai Chamber, 36 of which are fully-owned by Korean businessmen," said Al Tayer.

He talked about the outstanding activities of some major Korean companies operating in Dubai such as Samsung company which leads a consortium of companies that are currently building Burj Dubai, the world's tallest tower, in addition to Bando real estate company which was the first to build two towers at Dubai's Business Bay, as well as other Korean companies that contribute to the development of the UAE's infrastructure projects.

"Signing the MoU prompts us to invite the Korean companies to invest in the UAE, Dubai in particular, in the fields of banking, finance, services and logistics, benefiting from the investment incentives and facilities that Dubai offers to investors at the Emirate's 17 free zones," Al Tayer added.

He also stressed the importance of having students exchange programs between Dubai and Korea, mainly for the students specialized in Information Technology, as these programs could provide an opportunity for the UAE national students to acquire academic and vocational skills from a developed country such as Korea.

"In 1997, Dubai Chamber established the University of Dubai (previously Dubai University College) to educate and qualify national manpower through providing them with educational and training curriculum in business administration and information technology that are internationally accredited and met with the UAE and USA educational standards. The University of Dubai also organizes seminars and conferences and prepares economic studies targeting the members of Dubai Chamber," Al Tayer added.

The Chairman of Dubai Chamber noted that the MoU signed with Seoul Chamber of Commerce & Industry would highly contribute to enhancing the bilateral trade volumes between the two countries and establishing joint investment projects which represent one of the main objectives of the UAE delegation's visit to Korea.

The UAE is the largest market for the Korean products and the second largest oil supplier in the Middle East, as the bilateral trade between the UAE and South Korea reached $ 16 billion in 2006. South Korea is the second largest trade partner of the UAE in Asia after Japan, and that some major Korean companies like Hyundai, Daewoo and LG have established branches and agencies throughout the UAE, concentrated mainly at Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai.

Kyung Shik Sohn, Chairman of Seoul Chamber of Commerce & Industry, stressed the importance of the MoU signed with Dubai Chamber due to its expected impact on the development of the bilateral trade ties between the business communities in both countries. He highlighted the importance of establishing economic partnership between the two countries due to the significant strategic location of Dubai as one of the international business hubs in the region, especially in trade, finance and logistics sectors.

"Signing the MoU with Dubai Chamber would help enhance our bilateral relations and leading Korean investments to Dubai which enjoys an ideal environment for investment, especially with the presence of many free zones in which many Korean companies work. Dubai has become the central business center for many other Korean companies," said Sohn.