Ministry of SMEs and Startups Holds Bilateral Meeting with Saudi Ministry of Commerce to Strengthen Startup Cooperation

Discussion on Establishing a Korea-Saudi Policy Consultative Body for SMEs and Ventures

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Minister Oh Young-joo held a bilateral meeting on the 29th at the 63 Building in Seoul with Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia, and the delegation from the Ministry of Commerce.

The cooperation between the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Saudi Ministry of Commerce began in earnest last March when a delegation led by the Minister of SMEs and Startups participated in ‘BIBAN,’ Saudi Arabia’s largest startup festival, at the invitation of the Ministry of Commerce. Subsequently, in June last year, during the Minister of SMEs and Startups’ visit to Saudi Arabia, they met again with the Saudi Minister of Commerce and pledged to expand exchanges in the SME and startup sectors between Korea and Saudi Arabia. In November, Al Husseini, head of the Saudi Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority under the Ministry of Commerce, attended ‘COMEUP,’ Korea’s representative startup festival. Since then, both ministries have maintained relations to broaden the foundation for cooperation between SMEs and startups in both countries.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

This meeting was held at the request of the Saudi Minister of Commerce, who visited Korea to strengthen Korea-Saudi economic cooperation. During the meeting, they shared the achievements of SME and startup cooperation pursued by both countries and focused on discussing ways to promote joint growth of companies in both countries. In particular, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups proposed establishing a policy consultative body to the Ministry of Commerce to maintain momentum for exchanges in the SME and startup sectors between the two countries and to continuously expand cooperation, and agreed to continue discussions to build this framework.

Additionally, they requested active interest and cooperation from the Ministry of Commerce to expand the participation of Korean companies in ‘BIBAN 2024,’ scheduled for November this year, and discussed ways to expand exchanges in the venture and startup sectors between the two countries, including inviting the Saudi Minister of Commerce and other stakeholders from the Saudi startup ecosystem to ‘COMEUP,’ scheduled for December.

Minister Oh said, “Saudi Arabia is a key partner country for the entry of our SMEs and startups into the Middle East. Based on the close cooperative relationship between the two countries, we have achieved meaningful results such as the opening of the Riyadh GBC (Global Business Center) and the establishment of a Korea-Saudi joint fund.” He added, “I expect that the scope and depth of Korea-Saudi cooperation will broaden and deepen further through this meeting, and I hope that the two ministries will continue to develop the cooperation model based on mutual trust.”

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