“UAE - A Land of Opportunities”
The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Korea, in cooperation with the UAE Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), organized a webinar titled ‘UAE-ROK Investment Forum’ on July 20 to introduce the UAE's investment ecosystem to the Korean private sector and provide them with investment information for each sector.
The webinar held at Grand Hyatt Seoul provided customized information for each of the six priority sectors namely Food Security, Healthcare, ICT, Manufacturing, Technology, and Renewable Energy.
Currently, the UAE government provides incentives such as 100% foreign investment, corporate income tax reduction, repatriation of capital and profits to Korean companies investing in the UAE, and the golden visa scheme, among others.
In addition to these, the UAE government, as the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) destination in the Arab world, plans to launch more attractive incentives to assist investors, entrepreneurs and talents in the future.
Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, highlighted the depth and strength of the economic and trade relations linking the United Arab Emirates with the friendly Republic of Korea, which have witnessed continuous development over the past four decades. He said “The forum is an important platform to benefit from the investment opportunities emerging in the two countries’ markets and encourage the private sector from both sides to pump investments into vital sectors of common interest.”
Minister Al Zeyoudi also indicated that the volume of non-oil trade between the UAE and Korea during the first quarter of 2022 amounted to about USD 1.3 billion, achieving a growth of 19% compared to the same period last year, while the non-oil trade between the two countries totaled USD 4.6 billion in 2021.”
Ahn Duk-geun, South Korea Trade Minister, said in his opening remarks "When Korea's outstanding manufacturing capabilities and UAE’s capital are combined, the crisis in the global supply chain can be effectively overcome and new business opportunities can be created."
Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, UAE Ambassador to Republic of Korea, said “The ‘Projects of the 50’ launched by the UAE government will create business opportunities for Korean companies in all the seven emirates as well as in the UAE free zones. I strongly believe today's forum will create a momentum for increasing each side's investment in the other country.”
During the event, various government entities explained their roles in the UAE investment ecosystem, elaborating on the current investment environment and the current status of cooperation between the two countries. In the presentation section, UAE representatives from Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Dubai FDI, Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone and Invest in Sharjah shared the details and the promising prospects for potential business projects in the UAE.
There were productive G2G and B2B meetings between the two countries both before and after the event. UAE Minister Al Zeyoudi and Korean Trade Minister Ahn had met in advance to discuss further collaboration. Furthermore, meetings were held for Korean companies interested in UAE investments after the event with their UAE counterparts.
Detailed information on the UAE’s investment environment can be found on the UAE Embassy’s official website 'InvestEmirates'.