RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and South Korea have announced the establishment of a ministerial level committee to boost cooperation, enhance business networking and ensure sustainable support for the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic reforms.
The Saudi-Korea Vision 2030 Committee “focuses on supporting business ventures between the two countries,” Youngjae Kim, diplomat and negotiator at Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Saudi Arabia, told Arab News on Tuesday.
He explained that the committee comprises five key sector sub-groups headed by senior government representatives from both countries: energy and manufacturing, smart infrastructure and digitization, capacity building, health care and life sciences, and SMEs and investments.
There is also a separate sub-group that will monitor and facilitate cooperative efforts, he added.
Kim said the two countries have already agreed on 40 projects across the five key sectors, including joint investments in shipbuilding; desalination and solar power plants; nuclear power plants; automobile production; an e-government cooperation center; robotics; smart city traffic control systems; intelligent CCTV and social safety infrastructure; new economic city development; a Saudi national health insurance system; financial assistance for SME joint ventures; business matchmaking of SMEs; and the construction and operation of theme parks.
At the 18th South Korean and Saudi Arabia Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) in Seoul on Friday, Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning, Adel Fakeih, expressed his confidence that the Saudi-Korea Vision 2030 Committee would lay a solid foundation for the two countries to foster a strategic and long-term partnership.
“Foreign Minister Kang noted that Korea, with its technical expertise and experience of economic industrialization, would be the optimal partner for Saudi Arabia as it promotes economic diversification and reform under Vision 2030,” said Korean Embassy spokesman Kim.
Concurrent with the JCM, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC), co-hosted the Vision 2030 Business Forum, which Fakeih also attended, and where he said that “vibrant B2B cooperation” was the key pillar of a bilateral economic partnership.
Over 400 Saudi and Korean business leaders and delegates attended, including South Korea’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Kwon Pyung-oh, who stressed the need to link the innovative strengths of Korean companies with the enthusiasm, needs and boundless potential of Saudi Arabia in order to produce win-win results for both parties.
Saudi-Korea Vision 2030 Committee launched with access to 400 companies
Saudi-Korea Vision 2030 Committee launched with access to 400 companies
Ethiopian Cultural Days brings aroma of coffee, flavorful food to Alsuwaidi Park in Riyadh
- The Global Harmony Cultural Series is open to visitors every day from 4:00 p.m. until midnight
RIYADH: Ethiopian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Muktar Kedir Abdu attended the opening of Ethiopian Cultural Days at Alsuwaidi Park in Riyadh on Thursday.
The Ministry of Media and the General Entertainment Authority organized Ethiopian Cultural Days as part of the Global Harmony Cultural Series, which has focused on several other countries so far, including Yemen, Indonesia, Syria, and Uganda.
The Global Harmony Cultural Series is open to visitors every day from 4:00 p.m. until midnight.
During Ethiopian Cultural Days, guests will see Ethiopian dance groups showcasing diverse folk dances from various regions of Ethiopia.
“What caught my attention the most was the DJ. My friends and I come almost every day for the DJ,” Turki Mesmeh, a frequent visitor to Global Harmony, told Arab News. “They brought their cultures to us, all the way to the Alsuwaidi neighborhood.”
Ethiopia has an enormously rich history. According to National Geographic, the ancient African kingdom of Aksum was based in what is now northern Ethiopia and parts of Eritrea. It emerged as a powerful and wealthy civilization from the 1st to the 10th century CE, controlling the trade routes between the Roman Empire, India, and the Arabian Peninsula. Ethiopia was also among the first countries in Africa to adopt Christianity.
Guests to Ethiopian Cultural Days will also discover a range of Ethiopian cuisine.
“The most important dishes are tibs and kitfo. Tibs is meat, fried with tomatoes and other ingredients,” Welday Meles, owner of the Ethiopian restaurant Lucy, told Arab News.
Kitfo is raw minced beef mixed with chili and clarified butter, and is similar to steak tartare.
Another popular dish is beyaynetu, a dish — or series of small dishes — made from a wide variety of ingredients and served with injera — Ethiopia’s famous spongy flatbread made from fermented teff flour.
And no celebration of Ethiopia would be complete without coffee. Not only because the coffee plant originated there — legend has it that a goat herder named Kaldi discovered coffee when he noticed that his animals became unusually energetic after eating red berries from a particular tree — but also because the country has preserved its traditional rituals, diverse varieties, and deep cultural connection to coffee, remaining one of its most significant global producers.
Rahika Mohammed, a participant at the event, explained that, in Ethiopia, coffee is commonly served with “popcorn and mastic incense,” adding that “the cup must be full when served.”
