Considering the current coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions set in place to reduce the spread of the pandemic, the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI) organized its first online B2B matchmaking event, which witnessed the participation of more than 100 Emirati and Korean businesses.
At the beginning of the meeting which was conducted with all necessary precautionary measure including social distancing, Abdullah Ghurair Al Qubaisi, Deputy Director-General of the ADCCI, said that the Chamber strives hard to promote the business community and govern its affairs in Abu Dhabi as well as help stabilize it economically, especially under the current global economic situation.
Abdullah Ghurair Al Qubaisi Deputy Director-General ADCCI
“However, the Abu Dhabi Chamber keeps on supporting the hard efforts of the government in Abu Dhabi and the UAE in confronting the challenges of the pandemic, managing the crisis to ensure business continuity, and in activating the role of the private sector in the economic development.”
At Seoul, the chamber’s representative office had coordinated and agreed with Korea International Trade Association to organize this online B2B matchmaking between Emirati businesses and their Korean counterparts from small and medium enterprises specialized in various sectors including general trading, consumables, healthcare, cosmetics and food and beverages.
The UAE and Korea are celebrating their 40th anniversary of diplomatic relationship this month thanks to the wise leadership of both countries, the Deputy Director-General noted.
“The economic relations between the UAE and South Korea have witnessed considerable development in all sectors,” Mr. Al Qubaisi continued, saying that the number of Korean companies registered at the UAE Ministry of Economy rose to 138; and the number of the registered agencies at the ministry is 215 ones, whereas the number of registered Korean trademarks is 3,802.
Korean investments in the UAE stood at a volume of $2,678 million.
“Non-oil trade between the UAE and South Korea reached $4.9 billion in 2019; $3.8 billion of which are imports from Korea, $715.6 million are Emirati exports to Korea; and $437.4 were re-export from the UAE to Korea. The trade balance surplus was in favor of South Korea with around $2.7 billion.”
Mr. Al Qubaisi asserted that these numbers point to huge progress for the relationship between the two sides in the future, which reflects the intention of the two countries’ leaderships in realizing their joint interest in pushing the wheel of economic relations forward.
For his part, Hyun Chul Kim, Executive Managing Director of Global Marketing Group – KITA, said that the meeting is an outcome to the exceptional cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Chamber considering the cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding that bind the two sides together.
Mr. Kim further replied that together the Abu Dhabi Chamber and KITA work continuously to benefit all parties and to promote investments and trade opportunities that allow Korean businesses to enter Abu Dhabi markets and which would help develop the economic relations between the two countries.
