Startup Festival 'ComeUp' Becomes a Platform for Korea-Saudi Startup Collaboration

Saudi SME Agency Chief Visits Korea to Attend ComeUp
Bilateral Meeting with Minister Lee Young

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young) announced that on the 7th, it held a bilateral meeting in Seoul with the Saudi Small and Medium Enterprises Authority (Chairman Sami bin Ibrahim Alhusaini) to discuss the establishment of the "Korea-Saudi SME and Startup Cooperation Roadmap."

This meeting was arranged as Chairman Alhusaini visited Korea to attend COMEUP 2023, Korea's representative startup festival. The meeting focused on discussing plans to establish the "Korea-Saudi SME and Startup Cooperation Roadmap." This is a follow-up discussion to the agreement made in June in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Minister Lee, Saudi Minister of Commerce Al-Kassabi, and Chairman Alhusaini agreed to strengthen mid- to long-term cooperation in the SME and venture sectors between the two countries.

Minister Lee Young of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is meeting with Sami bin Ibrahim Alhussaini, Director of the Saudi Small and Medium Enterprises Authority, on the 7th at the SC Convention Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Minister Lee proposed including cooperation with local SME support organizations as an agenda item in the roadmap to ensure the successful operation of the Riyadh Global Business Center (GBC), which was opened following President Yoon Suk-yeol's state visit to Saudi Arabia in October. The Saudi side expressed hope that Korea would participate in the Entrepreneurship World Cup to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2024. Both organizations agreed to discuss specific cooperation plans and schedules.

Additionally, the roadmap will include policy exchanges related to TIPS and measures to promote mutual market entry of SMEs from both countries. The second meeting for related discussions is planned to be held in Saudi Arabia next year.

Chairman Alhusaini will participate in COMEUP 2023, starting on the 8th, with a delegation of about 90 members from the Saudi Ministry of Investment and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. A Saudi national pavilion will also be set up to provide networking opportunities with startup stakeholders from Korea and around the world.

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