KOR-Bahrain Pursue $57 Million Export Contract... Continuing the 'New Middle East Boom'

28-Year First Trade Minister Meeting
12 Company Economic Delegation Visits Korea
First Trade and Investment Promotion Framework Agreement Signed

South Korea and Bahrain have signed their first Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF) and agreed to pursue contracts worth $57 million. This is part of the South Korean government's 'New Middle East Boom' initiative to boost exports and investment.

On the 13th, Ahn Deok-geun, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, met with Abdullah bin Adel Parkro, Bahrain’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seoul to sign the TIPF. They also signed three Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) on cooperation between trade and investment agencies, tourism promotion agencies, and smart farm-related collaboration.

The Korea-Bahrain trade ministerial meeting was held for the first time in 28 years since 1995. Minister Parkro visited South Korea with a ‘Bahrain Economic Delegation’ consisting of about 20 businesspeople from 12 major Bahraini companies. This economic delegation visit is the first in 11 years since Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain’s official visit to South Korea in 2012.

During the meeting with Minister Parkro, Director General Ahn said, "Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1976, cooperation between the two countries, which was centered on energy and construction, is expanding into health and medical fields." South Korea exported a Korean-style health insurance information system to Bahrain from 2017 to 2019.

Prior to the signing of the TIPF and MOUs, on the 11th, contracts worth approximately $57 million were pursued in sectors such as aluminum production and processing and smart farms. An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy explained, "This achievement was made through 42 one-on-one consultations held at a business meeting and investment forum attended by 93 businesspeople from 36 companies of both countries."

Meanwhile, the South Korean government has actively started developing Middle Eastern export markets this year to improve the trade deficit through export expansion. In March, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy led a shuttle economic cooperation delegation of 34 companies to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE), successfully securing contracts worth $2 billion. In the first week of this month, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held 'Korea Tourism Week' in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, UAE. In June, a follow-up shuttle economic cooperation delegation led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will be dispatched to the Middle East.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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