President Park Geun-hye pledged during her recent talks with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman to support Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” policy that aims to reduce its heavy reliance on oil exports, foster new industries and reform its economic structure and also asked Saudi Arabia to actively participate in the international community’s efforts to block North Korea’s nuclear development.
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Salman agreed to actively support Korea on North Korean issues. The two sides agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in many industrial sectors like renewable energies, smart cities, defense industry, etc.
The Korea IT Times, on the special occasion of the Anniversary of the Unification of the Kingdom, welcoming H.E. Ambassador Riyad A.H. Almubaraky, and also new Defense Attache, Colonel Khaled M. Altakhis, had an extensive interview with Ambassador Almubaraky as follows.
Please explain the brief history of diplomatic and economic ties between Saudi Arabia and Korea.
The year 1962 has witnessed the beginning of the establishment of Saudi-Korean diplomatic relations and, thus, the Embassy of Saudi Arabia that was opened in 1974 in Seoul. It was the first Arab Embassy to be established in Seoul. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the bilateral relations in the early stages have witnessed a number of achievements with the participation of Korean experts and manpower in the Kingdom to modernize its infrastructure, mainly with implementation of projects of roads, public buildings, water desalination, power generation, information technology and many other various industrial projects.
In the field of trade, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the major trading partner to the Republic of Korea, where the Kingdom is the fourth largest trading partner to the Republic of Korea, while Korea is Saudi’s fifth largest one. There are more than 130 joint projects and the size of trade volume between the two countries has increased over 30 billion USD in 2015, and 13 billion USD in the second half of 2016.
Please explain the significance of your Anniversary of the Unification of the Kingdom, September 23rd.
The occasion of the national day celebration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia comes every year to remind us of the greatness of the efforts and sacrifice that were introduced by the Kingdom's founder His Majesty late King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud, and his faithful followers who afforded every valuable and precious assets they have for the sake of our beloved Kingdom's survival and continuation. With Allah help, the Kingdom was reunified and restored security.
The occasion of the national day anniversary comes to emphasize the firmness of rules and principles on which the Kingdom's great achievements were based on; it comes also as culmination of the process of growth, development and construction since the era of the Founder King, to the era of well-being, the prosperous development that we are witnessing currently under the great leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques His Majesty King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammad bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, where the Kingdom stands proudly, side by side with the developed countries, in every fields. Thanks to Allah, the Kingdom enjoys blessed renaissance with more security and stability in spite of the security, economic and political challenges in the region.
Please introduce Saudi Arabia's 'Vision for 2030' and what do you think about Korea's role as an economic partner to cooperate in order to achieve the goal.
The Kingdom's 2030 Vision is an ambitious yet achievable blueprint, which expresses our long-term goals and expectations and reflects our country’s strengths and capabilities. All success stories start with a vision, and successful visions are based on strong pillars.
The first pillar of our vision is our status as the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds. We recognize that Allah the Almighty has bestowed on our lands a gift more precious than oil. Our Kingdom is the Land of the Two Holy Mosques, the most sacred sites on earth, and the direction of the Kaaba (Qibla) to which more than a billion Muslims turn at prayer.
The second pillar of our vision is our determination to become a global investment powerhouse. Our nation holds strong investment capabilities, which we will harness to stimulate our economy and diversify our revenues.
The third pillar is transforming our unique strategic location into a global hub connecting three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa. Our geographic position between key global waterways, makes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a strategic center of trade and the gateway to the world.
Regarding the role Korea as a major economic partner in the Kingdom's Vision 2030, it is no doubts that its participation will facilitate the implementation of the Vision successfully due the Korean company's international reputation in fields that are quite consistent with the targeted economic goals of the Kingdom such as IT technology, health, education, transport and logistics, infrastructure and other activities related to innovative and knowledge economy. A suitable attractive investment climate has been created through taking a number of many appropriate measures and calling for investment in R&D, innovation, and human resources development.
Please introduce outstanding Koran companies activities in Saudi Arabia.
The performance of the Korean companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very active and provides useful means to develop bilateral economic cooperation. Such Korean companies have played a crucial role in the 1970s and 1980s in modernizing the Saudi infrastructures. Recently, the Korean companies have extended their activities in the Kingdom to include water desalination, power generation, petrochemicals, energy, information technology and contracting where the Korean companies have accumulated international experiences in such fields.
What do you think are the most attractive industrial sectors for Korean companies to invest in Saudi Arabia in the years to come
There are many fields for Korea to invest in the Kingdom. Among them are energy industry, including renewable energy, petrochemicals, as well as the transportation, construction and tourism sectors. Among the most popular Korean products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are automobile, electronica, and industrial equipment.
