The government is set to provide financial support totaling $6 billion to target the infrastructure market in the Middle East.
Today (the 10th), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol presided over the 269th External Economic Ministers’ Meeting, where they reviewed the implementation of the summit’s economic achievements and discussed plans for cooperation in infrastructure advancement by country and sector in the Middle East.
The government anticipates that demand for infrastructure modernization will expand as major Middle Eastern countries move beyond post-war recovery towards industrial diversification and economic restructuring, and they plan to use this as an opportunity for new growth.
The Middle East accounts for approximately 49%, or $513.2 billion, of our country’s cumulative overseas construction orders, totaling $1.05 trillion.
To this end, the government plans to identify cooperative tasks in sectors such as plant and energy, transportation and logistics, urban development, and digital infrastructure, and will actively support our companies’ business participation.
Initially, they will use overseas diplomatic missions and related organizations to discover local demands and key projects, and conduct integrated marketing targeting major Middle Eastern clients.
Furthermore, regardless of whether our companies secure orders, the government plans to create a $6 billion advance financial support scheme to foster a friendly cooperative environment with key Middle Eastern clients. This will involve $3 billion each from the Export-Import Bank of Korea and Korea Trade Insurance Corporation.
A ‘Middle East Infrastructure Strategic Fund’ is being pursued under the leadership of the Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND), in collaboration with Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds.
Additionally, the government plans to enhance inter-governmental (G2G) collaboration, including the proactive dispatch of high-level government officials to the region, to bolster our companies’ competitive edge in securing contracts.
Today’s meeting also reviewed the progress in implementing summit agreements in the economic sector.
Deputy Prime Minister Koo stated, “Since the inception of the people’s government a year ago, we have laid the foundation for expanding economic cooperation by signing a total of 84 Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) in areas such as science and technology, and the economy and finance, with major countries.”
In the agriculture and fisheries sector, exporting of new items like refrigerated croaker has begun following an MOU on the inspection and sanitary conditions for the export and import of wild-caught seafood signed with China.
In the field of science and technology, the government explained that follow-up cooperation has been concretized, with a master plan for scientific and technological innovation cooperation prepared in April this year following an MOU on scientific and technological cooperation between Korea and Vietnam signed in August last year.
The government intends to continue operating a joint monitoring system among relevant ministries to ensure that summit agreements lead to real economic outcomes, and any difficulties encountered during the process will be resolved through inter-ministerial collaboration.
Deputy Prime Minister Koo said, “The government will continue to work with relevant ministries to ensure the cooperation platform established through summit diplomacy leads to tangible results in our companies’ overseas expansion and the expansion of economic collaboration.”
[Photo Courtesy: Yonhap News]
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