By Jung Sung-ki
While the strategic partnership between South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is taking a giant leap forward, both governments still lack enough experts on their respective regions to help facilitate mutual understanding between the two sides in terms of history, culture, business and government policies.
Christy Hyun-joo Lee, CEO & partner of Daewon Advisory Services FZE, in the meantime, is one of the few experts playing a bridging role in Korea-UAE relations.
With extensive knowledge of East Asian and Middle Eastern issues, Lee, a former finance and securities official in Korea, has played a pivotal role behind the scenes in promoting relations between the two countries.
Noticeably Lee was a key member of a government delegation sent to the Emirates in 2008 and sought a breakthrough in negotiations over the landmark nuclear reactor deal signed in December 2009.
“When I worked with Woori Investment & Securities as an investment relations (IR) officer after retiring from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, I was invited to join the government delegation led by then Vice Finance Minister Lee Yong-geol to promote Korea-UAE relationship through IR efforts,” Lee recalled in an interview with Business Focus.
During a meeting with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi at the time, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan unexpectedly proposed Seoul build nuclear reactors in the UAE, calling for establishing “a 100-year strategic partnership,” said Lee. And that was the starting point for the Seoul-Abu Dhabi talks over full-fledged nuclear cooperation.
Before establishing the consulting firm last December, Lee served as a senior policy advisor for the Middle East and North African region on the Presidential Council for Future and Vision. She led efforts to launch the Korea-UAE Business Council during the visit of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince last year.
The Middle East consultant reiterated that now is the time for Korea to look to the Middle East in search of energy resources and business opportunities beyond traditional markets in the United States and Europe, both of which are reeling from financial deficits and slow growth.
“I started to look at the Gulf countries for the first time soon after I joined Woori. Before that, I had no idea what to expect,” she said. “But as I learned more and more about them, I began to realize that it is a really important area that many people in Korea are looking into.”
The UAE has abundant natural resources and an ambitious vision to achieve a national agenda, whereas the Arab nation doesn’t have enough human capital, Lee noted.
“On the other hand, Korea has abundant human resources — really hardworking, very talented and dedicated, but we don’t have enough jobs in Korea,” she said. “So it will be a great match because we have enough human resources who are willing to work hard, who are still very flexible, and we have a younger generation who can speak good English.”
Lee advised the Korean government do more to improve the competitiveness of service industries, such as healthcare and education, in order to lure more investment from Arab nations.
“Gulf countries are ready to invest and they are willing to have a partnership to enhance their competitiveness in terms of healthcare, education and service sector areas,” she said. “But so far we don’t have the service industries linked to a global brand yet, so I think we should really focus on this and enhance our global brand and then expand to this region.”
Lee stressed Korea should recognize itself as a global leader and act like a leader to share its development skills and knowhow with late-comers.
“The hosting of the G20 summit in Seoul last year was a great example of Korea becoming a leader on the global stage, but one key issue is many people in Korea still don’t think we are a leader,” said Lee. “But people outside Korea are thinking Korea is really a leader. So we’ve got to be ready to think like and act like leaders.”
Lee said amongst the three East Asian power houses, Korea is the best suited candidate for Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030 economic development plan.
“Amongst the three, Japan is aging. They’re struggling and they’ve lost a lot of confidence. Sill they have a lot of technologies but the leadership is in trouble,” she said. “China is growing fast, but infrastructure, morality and transparency is not there yet.”
Given what Abu Dhabi is trying to do in preparing for the post oil era and nurturing other industries quickly in about 20 years, only Korea’s “rags-to-riches” development model provides lessons to UAE authorities, she added.
“It’s Korea. Korea is the only country that developed from ground zero and became number one very quickly,” she said.
Daewon is preparing to arrange for a third group of UAE delegates to come to Korea late next month.
The UAE delegates will visit Seoul, Ulsan and Pusan to let them see and hear firsthand from Korean executives responsible for rapidly developing Korea’s industry and infrastructure.
They are scheduled to visit Korean firms engaged in manufacturing, transportation, and marine and aerospace technologies.