RIYADH: The Far East came to the Middle East on Saturday after a high-profile ‘Arab-Korea Friendship Express Caravan’ arrived in the Kingdom.
The 59-member caravan, composed of three different delegations from various commercial and cultural organizations as well as a diplomatic mission, will provide an opportunity for top Saudi and Korean officials to hold talks on a range of issues related to the G20, particularly on preparations for the summit in Seoul next year.
Il Sa-kong, chief of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and special envoy of the Korean president is head of the caravan.
Sa-kong, who also chairs the G20 Summit Korea Coordination Committee, will hold talks with Saudi officials including Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf and Governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) Muhammad Al-Jasser.
“The talks will be important as both the Kingdom and Korea are important members of the G20, and they look forward to working closely together in the G20 process,” said a Korean diplomat.
A Korean Taekwondo show was staged late Saturday at the Olympic Complex as part of the caravan’s cultural program. Sixteen black-belt experts from Kukkiwon, the world’s Taekwondo headquarters in Korea, performed the demonstration at the Olympic Complex. This was in addition to the ongoing Korean trade and investment show that will conclude on Sunday.
Twenty-six Korean businessmen representing 29 small and medium enterprises were also holding meetings with their Saudi counterparts. The commercial mission has been organized by KITA, a leading economic organization in Korea with over 66,000 member companies, mainly from the trading and manufacturing sectors.
The caravan will travel through eight countries in the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Lebanon, Qatar and Syria. An embassy’s statement said the caravan would provide an opportunity for the Arab world to experience Korea by attending various cultural events and economic programs during its fortnight-long trip in the region.
The statement added the Kingdom and Korea had forged closer ties in the political, commercial and cultural domains.
Saudi Arabia is Korea’s fourth largest trading partner. Bilateral trade between the two countries has increased from $4.2 billion in 1991 to $39 billion in 2008, with the balance in favor of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom is also Korea’s largest oil supplier, providing one third of Korea’s total oil imports.
