Abu Dhabi, UAE – The United Arab Emirates will invest $30 billion in South Korea over the next few years, Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade said during the meeting with Minister of Trade of Korea, Dukgeun Ahn in Dubai on Wednesday.
The meeting explored joint investment opportunities in several priority fields including trade, industry, real estate, insurance, health, technology, digital transformation and food security.
“Non-oil trade between the two countries totaled nearly AED19.5 billion ($5.3 billion) in 2022, up 14 percent from 2021,” Al Zeyoudi said. “Also, the UAE exports to South Korea grew by 17.5 percent last year to exceed AED2.8 billion ($781 million), while our re-exports to Korea totaled AED 1.3 billion ($367 million).”
The two ministers agreed to enhance joint efforts to implement the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that was recently signed between the UAE Ministry of Economy and the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. This agreement forms part of a series of MoUs signed between the two countries in January 2023 during the official visit of a top-level Korean delegation to the UAE.
The MoU aims to boost trade exchanges between the two countries by facilitating import and export procedures for exporters and importers in both markets, thus creating more investment and trade opportunities for the private sector. These efforts will encourage both UAE and Korean SMEs to expand their businesses into each other’s markets, giving rise to new future-ready partnerships.
Korean FDI in the UAE totaled $2.2 billion up until the beginning of 2021, reflecting a 73 percent growth compared to the beginning of 2013. These investments are mostly concentrated in finance, insurance, mining, retail, real estate, and transportation, energy and technology sectors.
Al Zeyoudi apprised the Korean delegation of the economic policies adopted by the UAE to enhance its national investment environment. These include incentives and enablers to encourage the private sector to invest and expand in the country’s markets, amendments to the Commercial Companies Law that allowed 100 percent foreign ownership in the country, and upgraded residency laws designed to attract business owners, entrepreneurs and talents, and to enhance the growth of business, trade and economic activities.
He also mentioned the UAE’s achievements under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) program, which has resulted in the signing of four agreements with India, Israel, Indonesia and Turkiye in the last 12 months. The CEPA negotiations, he added, are currently progressing with more strategic markets to enhance the future growth and sustainability of the UAE’s foreign trade.
The UAE minister also highlighted the advantages and opportunities offered by the UAE’s NextGenFDI initiative to foreign companies wishing to invest and expand in the UAE. The initiative aims to develop the UAE’s technological ecosystem and inject $500 million into the national economy by attracting global companies working in the fields of technology, digital solutions and software to the country.