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S. Korea plans more UAE investments
South Korea's Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook is poised to begin an official visit to the UAE, during which she will have talks with His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai .
- By Samir Salama, Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:00 September 24, 2006
- South Korean Prime Minister Han Myung-Sook.
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
Abu Dhabi: South Korea's Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook is poised to begin an official visit to the UAE, during which she will have talks with His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai .
In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Han Myeong-sook talked about democracy and gender equality in the UAE, plans for a GCC-South Korea free trade agreement, the Palestinian issue, South Korea's stand on Iran's nuclear programme, security and political stability in Iraq, among other issues.
Gulf News: Would you share any major announcements on the eve of your talks with Shaikh Mohammad?
Myeong-sook: My visit to the UAE will contribute to the further enhancement and development of future-oriented partnership between the two countries, which has been established with President Roh Moo-hyun's visit to the UAE in May. There have been close exchanges between the leaders of the two countries along with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's [Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan] visit to South Korea in June.
During this visit, I plan to hold the ROK-UAE Prime Ministers' talks with Shaikh Mohammad and attend a briefing on Dubai development plan for consultations on ways to promote substantial cooperation between the two countries. In particular, we plan to share development experiences between the two countries, which have achieved high economic growth in a short period of time and continue cultivating the potential for bilateral cooperation in various areas such as trade, investment, IT and tourism.
Currently, around 50 South Korean companies of global competitiveness have established headquarters of the Middle East region in Dubai, and it is expected to provide an opportunity to further accelerate exchanges and cooperation between the businessmen of the two countries.
UAE companies have made investments worth $8 billion in South Korea since 2002, including Thuraya Satellite Communications' $5 billion investment in satellite-based mobile phones systems and the commitments of DP World worth $300 million as an investor/manager of three berths in Busan Newport. Would you tell us about South Korean investments in the UAE?
South Korea's accumulated investment amount in the UAE is $25 million, which makes up 2.5 per cent of total investment in the Middle East. Investments are mostly made in wholesale and retailing industries. The investment amount between 2002 and 2005 was $14 million, which is 56 per cent of the entire amount. South Korea's investment in the UAE continues to grow.
About 50 per cent of South Korea's foreign investment is in the Asian region, such as China, and investment in the Middle East and Africa is on the rise. During the first half of this year, total foreign investment amounted to $4.6 billion, among which $2.6 billion were invest in Asia and $30 million in the Middle East. We expect to see continued increase in Korea's investments in the Middle East, including the UAE, corresponding to the economic growth trend of multi-dimensional industries in the Middle East and improvements in the investment environment.
President Roh Moo-Hyun of Korea said that the South Korean government would consider signing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council. Have talks been started on this?
The Korean government is pursuing the conclusion of FTAs on a multi-track basis with large economic blocs such as the United States and EU, and we are pursuing FTAs with major small- to medium-sized countries around the world as well in efforts to maintain the momentum of the FTA Roadmap and secure new foreign markets.
In particular, GCC countries have great potential for trade as they are mostly rich in resources and major providers of crude oil for South Korea. Therefore, we are deeply interested in the GCC region, and we plan to seek various economic cooperation systems, including FTAs, at a reasonable time when conditions are ripe in the future.
Being a long-time leader of Korean women's movement and the first Gender Equality Minister, how would you see the gender equality experience in the UAE, in particular and the Gulf in general?
As the first Minister of Gender Equality, I have been deeply interested in Muslim women, particularly those in the UAE and the Gulf region as I prepared for this visit to the UAE.
First of all, I highly commend the fact that the status of women in Islam is a historic and religious outcome that is regulated by the Holy Quran and Hadith, whereas the women's status in many countries is a historic outcome of the modernisation process in the 19th to early 20th century.
I am aware of the fact that there are many prominent female leaders in the UAE as well. I heard that Shaikha Fatima, who is respected as the mother of the UAE, is actively working for women's rights in the UAE by establishing Women's union and undertaking various projects to educate women.
Furthermore, I believe that it is very promising to see growing social participation of women in the UAE, as Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of Economy was appointed as the first female minister, followed by Mariam Al Roumi, Minister of Social Affairs in February 2006.
In Korea, women play significant roles not just at home but also in communities and in the entire country based on the confidence that women make up for half of the world population. Traditionally, women are significantly contributing to the human resource development for national growth by educating their children, and they have actively participated in the process of economic growth and democratisation of South Korea.
I highly commend the activities of UAE women who maintain their traditional values and adapt themselves to social changes at the same time. I hope to see further expansion of exchanges and cooperation between the women's organisations of the two countries as it is necessary to provide social systems, such as expansion of child-care facilities, for continued social participation of women.
Having been jailed for your pro-democracy activism in Korea, would you agree with imposing a US or Western-style democracy on the Arab World?
Human rights and democracy are universal values that transcend time and space. The values of democracy are not to be imposed, but they are the most important thing for mankind in our pursuit of joint prosperity in peace.
As we look back at the history of mankind, many pathfinders have willingly sacrificed themselves for the values of democracy, and South Korea was also able to enter a mature stage of democracy based on freedom and equality through democratisation movements against past authoritarian regimes.
South Korea's national development strategies were based on such values, and, as a result, Korea has grown into the 11th largest economy of the world from one of the least developed countries of the 1950s, and democracy has flourished in our country.
Both the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East have a pending nuclear issue with North Korea and Israel having WMD arsenal, including nuclear weapons. Do you not think that achieving peace in these two regions require dismantling of the WMD arsenal?
As the threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction has risen as a priority issue in international security since 9/11, the international community is well aware of the need to strengthen the international disarmament and non-proliferation regimes.
In particular, new proliferation threats of nuclear development taking advantage of the inherent loopholes in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the linking of WMDs and terrorism, the existence of a nuclear black market network require responses based on new reasoning and strategies.
South Korea looks forward to actively participating in the international community's WMD non-proliferation efforts, by emphasising the importance of strengthening disarmament and non-proliferation regimes, in addition to the IAEA's safeguard system, recognising the universality of international regimes such as the NPT, and participating in the UN's multilateral arms reduction efforts, for the objective of contributing to regional and global peace and stability.
What role can South Korea play in establishing peace in the Middle East? Are you contributing to the international peace-keeping forces in South Lebanon and what is your contribution to the reconstruction there?
It is urgent that all concerned parties put into action the substance and spirit of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701. As a close friend of both Lebanon and Israel, Korea is willing to do all that is within its capacity to contribute to establishing peace and security in this region.
South Korea fully supports the activities of the UNIFIL stationed in Lebanon; a similar group of UN troops were able to successfully complete their mission in South Korea as well, in the past. As part of its efforts to contribute to reconstruction efforts in Lebanon, Korea sent over $600,000 worth of donations, including medical supplies as emergency aid at the beginning of the conflict. Following this, Korea pledged to provide Lebanon with $5 million in aid at meeting for aid to Lebanon held on August 31 in Stockholm.
It is my firm belief that in order to stabilise the situation in this region and establish long-term peace and security in the Middle East, it is critical for the UN to play an ever more active role. In this regard, I would like to highly praise UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's initiative in visiting this region for such purposes.
Furthermore, I believe that if Foreign Minister Ban is elected as the next UN Secretary General, he will be able to act as an impartial mediator and agile facilitator in regards to addressing this issue constructively.
After seven months of its formation, the democratically elected Hamas government in Palestine has become paralysed because of the political and economic embargo imposed on it by the international community. Do you agree to punish the Palestinians for electing their government? How can Korea help the Palestinians get out of this impasse?
The Korean government is well aware of the hardships being suffered by the Palestinian people, and plan to provide as much assistance we can to help improve the living conditions of the Palestinian people and support reconstruction efforts.
We regret that there has been difficulty in the international community's provision of assistance to Palestine since the Hamas government came into power in March. We hope that the political situation in Palestine will stabilise speedily so that international assistance can smoothly flow.
We sincerely hope that the Middle Eastern peace talks between Israel and Palestine, which are currently at a standstill, will be resumed speedily, and that countries in the Middle East will be able to pursue national development in a peaceful and stable regional environment.
How would you evaluate the Western and the Gulf concerns over Iran's nuclear programme and do you share these concerns?
Actively supporting the international community's nuclear non-proliferation efforts, the South Korean government maintains its stance that Iran should promptly accept the package of incentives and disincentives proposed by E3+3, and carry out the 7.31 UN Security Council resolution, so that the Iranian nuclear issue can be resolved peacefully through diplomatic means.
We hope that Iran will carry out its role as a responsible member of the regional and international community by accepting the Security Council resolution and the broad range of benefits therein through serious negotiations with the EU and other parties concerned.
Could you tell us where the war in Iraq is heading?
I believe that a new opportunity for stability and development in Iraq and the Middle East has been established through the coming into power of the official Iraqi government, including Sunnis and other religious and political groups, through a democratic process.
However, I am aware that the security situation in Iraq is still instable due to retaliatory attacks between the Sunnis and Shiites and increased terrorist attacks stemming from intensified competition between different political groups after the launching of the official administration.
In this regard, I hope that the security situation in Iraq will improve within the very near future, through the efforts of national reconciliation by the Iraqi government and the joint security strengthening activities of US and Iraqi troops.
What are the chances of South Korea's candidate for the top UN post, Ban Ki-moon, Korea's Foreign Minister?
Foreign Minister Ban ranked first place in the first and second round of straw polls conducted in July and September at the UN Security Council. I believe that the international community's trust in him has thus been confirmed through these results.
As he fully understands the importance of the Middle East to global peace and prosperity, I am certain that he will play a crucial role in establishing peace and prosperity in the Middle Eastern region if he is elected as UN Secretary General.
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