JEDDAH — The 6th Jeddah-Korea Business Show was held at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) to promote the Saudi-Korean business interaction. Korea Consul General Nak Young Oh, Deputy Chairman of the JCCI Eng. Mazen Batterjjee and JCCI Secretary General Hassan Dahlan inaugurated the two-day Jeddah-Korea Business Show on Wednesday. Nak Young Oh said: "By creating a unique platform that bridges private sectors, this year's program comes at a historic time in which the Kingdom's government embarks on an ambitious program to make the economy more vibrant and diversified through its Vision 2030. I believe this business show will further contribute to the Kingdom's Vision 2030 by introducing Korea's innovative technologies and products to Saudi market." "Bridging of business relations to include sectors of the Saudi market, untapped before, and eventually leading to investment, is the rationale of this program. I sincerely hope that the Jeddah-Korea Business Show will further enhance business partnerships between the two countries, as well as contribute to the sustainable development path of the Kingdom." Batterjee said: "Korea possesses the technology that the Kingdom is looking for. We in the Chamber wish to see the Saudi market transform from consumerism and importation of goods, to producers. We hope that Korean companies can help the Saudi market through the transfer of technology, to improve the Kingdom's industries in various fields, and that is through several pacts in localizing Korean industries in the Kingdom so that they can produce their products here." Batterjee spoke briefly about the new direction to transform the Kingdom's economy under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz. He commended the role Korean companies have played in the Kingdom's development and expressed interest to see emerging new areas of collaboration. Since the first show in 2011, Jeddah-Korea Business Show has served as a unique platform for the business communities in the western region of the Kingdom who wishes to explore most up-to-date Korean technologies and products in the global market. This year, 87 Korean companies in various sectors display their catalogs in Renewable Energy & Environment, Machinery, Food & Health Supplements, Beauty & Cosmetics, ICT, Medical & Healthcare and Research Centers & Others. The focus of this year's show lies in the environment and green technologies, a new emerging sector which Korea can offer its cutting-technologies, and the sector which the Kingdom is exploring for its sustainable development path. The accumulated bilateral trade value between the Kingdom and Korea remains around $30-$40 billion, though it receded in 2015 by 33.7% to $27.63 billion compared with 2014, mainly due to low price of oil. Saudi Arabia is Korea's most important energy partner, as Korea imports approximately one third of its oil needs from the Kingdom. On the parts of investment, Korea already started several flagship investment projects, for example, in solar energy, housing, construction, and shipbuilding sectors, and vice versa. Saudi Arabia and Korea have signed an MOU on environmental protection and conservation in 2015. In November 2016, the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) and the Municipality of Al-Madinah Al-Munawwara have initiated the environmental master plan for solid waste management, covering the entire Madinah region. The project is fully funded by the Ministry of Environment of Korea as an execution for the MOU and is a concrete example, which Korean technologies can contribute to socio-economic development of the Kingdom.
