'Korea, Saudi Arabia ideal partners'

President Park Geun-hye shakes hands with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud before the two leaders hold a summit on the sidelines of the G20 Summit at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Center in Australia, Sunday. / Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

President Park Geun-hye held a summit with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud in Brisbane, Australia, Sunday, to discuss ways to enhance cooperation, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

It said Park planned to visit the Middle East country next year to accelerate such efforts.

The summit took place on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G-20) meeting.

Al Saud, 78, is de-facto ruler of the monarchical state on behalf of his father, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, 90, according to the presidential office. The son is also defense minister.

“Korea can be Saudi Arabia’s ideal partner for it to transform its oil-based economy into one that capitalizes on knowledge and information,” Park said.

“The relationship between the countries has been stable and strong,” Al Saud responded.

Korea has mainly imported crude oil from Saudi Arabia, while domestic construction companies have done business there since the 1970s.

The President said she wished to expand bilateral cooperation in other areas, such as health care, defense, finance, human resources, and information and communications technology.

The countries have sought to diversify their relations into other sectors from the traditional oil-based partnership.

Last month, the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry hosted a Korea-Saudi business forum in Seoul.

A 250-member Saudi delegation attended, including Commerce Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah and Minister of Economy and Planning Muhammad Al-Jasser, six deputy ministers, representatives of about 30 government agencies, and executives from several Saudi conglomerates.

Korea is the fifth country chosen to host the forum, following the United States, France, Italy and Japan.

According to E-Silk Road Asia, a consulting firm that proposed the forum to the Saudi government, the oil-rich nation sees Korea as a suitable partner that can help it achieve a knowledge-based society by 2020 as set forth in a major national strategy.

Back then, Saudi Ambassador to Seoul Ahmed Yonis Al-Barrak said Korea’s solid economic status in the global economy and its rapid economic growth in a relatively short time were some of the reasons behind his government’s decision to choose Korea as a partner for the forum.

Al-Barrak said the Korean-Saudi business forum would give a big boost to their relations and diversify their partnerships in trade, information technology, research and development, agriculture and education.