Leaders of South Korea and Qatar agreed Thursday to form a top-level cooperation
mechanism handling all issues of cooperation between the two countries from oil
and energy to science and technology, military and security, and green growth,
officials said.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed to the
establishment of a "High-level Strategic Cooperation Committee" after Qatari
Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani suggested the mechanism to expand the
scope of bilateral cooperation to all sectors, senior presidential press
secretary Choe Geum-nak said.
"The two leaders will take charge of the
committee in person," Choe said. "This means that the two leaders can resolve
problems directly through a hot line when lower-level discussions hit a
snag."
The Qatari leader also called on South Korea to play greater
roles in his efforts to transform the "desert nation" into an industrial
country, senior presidential secretary on green growth Kim Sang-hyup
said.
Lee arrived in Doha earlier Thursday on missions to ensure a
stable supply of crude oil to South Korea and to campaign for South Korean
builders to participate in major real estate development and infrastructure
construction projects in the Middle Eastern nation.
Qatar is trying to
develop Doha's Musheireb area into an architectural center and build an
ultra-modern city in Lusail, north of the capital. The country is also planning
a series of infrastructure construction projects ahead of its hosting of the
2022 World Cup.
Lee met with Qatar's urban planning minister, Sheikh
Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa Al Thani, and asked for his support for South Korean
firms trying to participate in the Musheireb and Lusail projects, emphasizing
that South Korean builders have rich experience in new city construction and
real estate development, the presidential office said.
Lee also asked
the minister to help South Korean firms expand their participation in
infrastructure construction projects ahead of the World Cup, saying Korean
builders have know-how in Middle Eastern construction projects and cutting-edge
technologies, the office said in a statement.
The Qatari minister said
the country is planning a slew of massive construction projects and he hopes
South Korean companies will play big parts in those projects, according to
presidential secretary Choe. South Korea's construction minister, Kwon Do-youp,
will visit Qatar in the near future to discuss specifics, he said.
Qatar is a key market for South Korean builders, with last year's orders
amounting to $1.83 billion. For South Korea, the country is the No. 1 liquefied
natural gas exporter and the third largest crude provider.
On the
sidelines of Lee's visit, South Korean Knowledge Economy Minister Hong Suk-woo
and his Qatari counterpart, Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, signed a memorandum of
understanding on industrial and energy cooperation.
The agreement is
expected to help boost cooperation in oil supplies, renewable energy development
and other energy issues, while accelerating cooperation in other industrial
matters. Under the agreement, the two sides are expected to hold their first
joint committee meeting as early as April, officials said.
The Korea
Gas Corp. also signed a contract to purchase liquefied natural gas from Qatar
for 21 years. The contract calls for providing South Korea with 1.5-2 million
tons of LNG a year until 2032.
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Earlier, Lee attended a forum of business leaders of the two countries and called for expanding the scope of cooperation between the sides beyond the energy and construction sectors.
Lee also said the Middle Eastern nation and South Korea can be good partners for projects on climate change, noting Qatar is hosting this year's U.N. Climate Change Conference, and South Korea is spearheading "green growth" as a key state policy.
"Coping with climate change will be a promising area of cooperation for the two countries," Lee said during the forum, explaining how his government has been promoting environment-friendly technologies and industries.
"If Qatar's green vision is combined with South Korea's green technologies, I believe it will generate big synergy effects," he said.