1. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, who is on a visit to Saudi Arabia, the last leg of his Middle East tour, attended in his capacity as head delegate of the Republic of Korea the 17th meeting of the ROK-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee and signed a record of discussions on December 22.

◦ It marked the first time that an ROK Foreign Minister has attended a meeting of the ROK-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee as head delegate. His Saudi counterpart in the meeting was Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammed al-Jasser.

2. In his keynote speech at the meeting, Minister Yun noted that the meeting was very timely and meaningful in that it came after the bilateral business forum held in Seoul and the bilateral summit talks held on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brisbane, and ahead of the ROK President's visit to Saudi Arabia in 2015. He went on to say that, in particular, as the Joint Committee meeting was the first of its kind since the two countries celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2012, it was a valuable occasion to reflect on what the two had achieved and to explore new ways to deepen and expand their strategic cooperation in the years ahead.

◦ Minister Yun pointed out that departing from their focus of cooperation on the traditional fields of energy and construction over the past 50 years, from now on, the two countries should raise and expand their important relationship into a new, strategic dimension that focuses on knowledge-based economy. He proposed the following five future directions for the ROK-Saudi Arabia cooperation:

a. Taking bilateral cooperation to such new areas as healthcare, nuclear and renewable energy, defense and finance.

b. Implementing cooperation on knowledge and technology to create a synergy effect through partnership where the ROK’s vast development experience and industrial technologies are combined with Saudi Arabia’s policy toward a knowledge-based economy.

c. Forging cooperative relations through the resumption of FTA negotiations between the ROK and the Gulf Cooperation Council for full utilization of the complementarity of the economies of the two countries.

d. Increasing cultural and people-to-people exchanges, including by encouraging young generations to study in each other’s universities and expanding vocational education to nurture young Saudi professionals and skilled workers.

e. Engaging more closely with each other as members of the G20 to discuss global and strategic issues.

◦ Saudi Arabia’s head delegate and Minister of Economy and Planning al-Jasser voiced his confidence that the ROK Foreign Minister’s visit to the country will serve as the starting point for moving bilateral ties rapidly forward. The gist of his remarks is as follows.

- In preparation for the post-oil era, the Saudi government is seeking a transition to a knowledge-based economy. To that end, he added, it is actively working to diversify its industries and develop its manufacturing industry. He referred to the economic growth and development experience of the ROK as an excellent benchmark for Saudi Arabia.

- In that regard, he stressed that should Korean companies embrace Saudi Arabia as their second home and boost their strategic investment in the country, Saudi can learn advanced technology from them and secure new growth engines. And the ROK, for its part, will be able to use Saudi as its gateway to Middle Eastern and other Muslim markets. He commented that by doing so, the two countries will be able to set a win-win cooperation model.

3. In the plenary session of the Joint Committee meeting, some 60 delegates from relevant government agencies of the two countries discussed ways to promote substantive cooperation in 24 sectors, including trade, investment, energy, construction, transportation, science, technology, information, communications, healthcare, medical services, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, statistics, meteorology, education, culture and tourism.

◦ The ROK delegation asked Saudi to continue expanding cooperation in healthcare pursuant to the Executive Program concluded in 2012; to help Korean companies participate in Saudi’s major infrastructure projects, including those involving nuclear power plants and renewable energy; and to play an active role in stabilizing the oil market amid the recent fall in international oil prices.

◦ The Saudi side extended appreciation to the ROK for the knowledge sharing program (KSP) conducted by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) since 2010. It also asked for the ROK’s cooperation to expand the presence of competitive small- and medium-sized Korean companies in Saudi Arabia; in the areas of human resource development and vocational training; and to streamline the visa process for Saudi’s state-supported students.

4. Further advances in the ROK’s relations with Saudi Arabia, the country of the origin of Islam and the ROK’s gateway to the Gulf region, are expected to help take to the next level the ROK’s relations with the six member states of the GCC. In that vein, the ROK Foreign Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia and the Joint Committee meeting draw attention as opportunities to initiate discussions on the future direction for bilateral cooperation that goes beyond the past economic ties in the fields of energy and construction.

◦ In particular, the two countries will hold further working-level consultations to build upon the outcome of the Joint Committee meeting and draw up specific ways to make relevant achievements during the ROK President’s visit to Saudi Arabia in 2015. 


                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation