Saudi Investment Minister: "Korean Startups, Please Use Saudi as a Platform"

Meeting with Lee Young, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, for about 1 hour
"Actively Supporting Global Expansion Startups"
"Need to Broaden Exchange"... Agenda Discussion

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups (right), is greeting Khalid Al-Falih, Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia (left), on the 10th at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Jung-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Investment, expressed on the 10th his intention to actively support companies wishing to expand globally by asking them to use Saudi Arabia as a platform.

Minister Al-Falih made these remarks during a meeting with Lee Young, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, at the 'COMEUP 2022' event held at Dongdaemun DDP in Seoul. The unofficial meeting exceeded the scheduled time (40 minutes) by about 20 minutes, reflecting active dialogue between both sides.

In his public statement, Minister Al-Falih said, "Saudi Arabia's startup ecosystem has grown sixfold in four years," and added, "Korean companies that want to scale up and expand globally should use Saudi Arabia as a platform."

He continued, "We want to actively support companies that have operated domestically and now wish to expand globally by using Saudi Arabia as a stepping stone," and expressed gratitude to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups for providing an opportunity to create such partnerships.

He also stated that both countries "need to broaden exchanges between people, companies, and investors," and predicted, "Since Korean officials will remain to continue discussions, deeper exchanges in investment and other areas will take place."

He also showed interest and affection for Korea, noting that Korean culture, fashion, and cosmetics are very popular locally in Saudi Arabia. After the meeting, when Minister Lee asked, "How many times have you visited Korea?" Minister Al-Falih replied, "Uncountable."

After the meeting, Minister Lee told reporters, "Last month, officials from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups visited Saudi Arabia unofficially with a letter of goodwill," and added, "We discussed possible collaborations in advance and invited them to COMEUP at that time."

Although this was the first official meeting between the two ministers, it was reported that the meeting proceeded smoothly thanks to prior agenda discussions.

Minister Lee said, "We went with three agendas we wanted, and before reaching a concrete agreement, the Saudi minister’s statements almost perfectly matched what we wanted," and added, "We also talked a lot about the next steps."

He conveyed, "We shared the opinion that we want to nurture startups in Saudi Arabia and Korea and create a global ecosystem."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.