South Korea could play a significant role in Qatar’s self-sufficiency programmes, particularly in the field of agriculture through skills exchange and technology transfer, ambassador Heung Kyeong Park has said.
Park said agriculture will be one of the topics to be discussed in the ‘5th Korea-Qatar High Level Strategic Cooperation Committee’ slated to be held next month in Doha. The meeting will also delve on cooperation in trade and investment, energy, infrastructure, and healthcare, the ambassador said.
He said the ministerial meeting is co-chaired by HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada and his South Korean counterpart, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Asked about South Korea’s role in Qatar’s self-sufficiency initiatives, Park said even before the blockade was imposed on Qatar in June, he had already “put emphasis on the embassy’s support to the Qatari government’s self-sufficiency programmes.”
“South Korea has a long history in the field of agriculture, so we have accumulated skills and experience and one advantage is that we have a programme on development and dissemination of skills to our farmers.
“And we also have an advantage when it comes to government to government (G2G) cooperation, so I believe South Korea can provide these skills and experience to Qatar in the field of agriculture,” Park told Gulf Times.
He also said the agenda for the December meeting “is still being finalised,” and expressed hope that discussions will highlight “agricultural and fishery cooperation.”
“On the Qatari side, they wish to expand their capacity in greenhouse farming and other agricultural projects, and they would also like to develop their aquaculture industry. Fortunately, we have plenty of skills and experience in that area,” he said.
The ambassador noted that the economic blockade “had no major impact on Qatar and South Korea’s bilateral relationship.”
He said trade volume between the two countries this year is estimated at $15bn, but the ambassador noted that with the rebalancing of oil prices, “more than $11bn is expected to be added” to trade figures.
“In terms of money, trade volume between our countries will increase. Actual trade volume is actually the same but slightly fluctuated depending on the temporary consumption in South Korea. But generally speaking, trade volume is steady,” Park said.
South Korea’s total consumption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is 35mn tonnes per year, of which, Qatar supplies 12mn tonnes of LNG per annum, the ambassador added.