Korean Prime Minister hails UAE's efforts in climate change sector

Seoul - Jan 16, 2012 (WAM) - KIM Hwang-sik, Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea has stressed that challenge of climate change on which the future of humanity so critically depends is looming larger than ever. If the current fossil-fuel dependent economic structure continues, the world will not be able to avoid the combined disasters of oil depletion and negative impacts of climate change. He also highlighted the need of the concerted efforts of governments and businesses around the world in order to overcome this crisis in an interview with the Emirates News Agency (WAM). Here is the transcript of interview of KIM Hwang-sik, Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea. Q: What is the importance of the World Future Energy Summit 2012 which will be taking place on 16th-19th January at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi? A: Currently the challenge of climate change on which the future of humanity so critically depends is looming larger than ever. If the current fossil-fuel dependent economic structure continues, the world will not be able to avoid the combined disasters of oil depletion and negative impacts of climate change. We need the concerted efforts of governments and businesses around the world in order to overcome this crisis. The World Future Energy Summit, reaching its fifth year, has evolved into a prominent green forum gathering leaders from around the world to find solutions against energy depletion and climate change. The Korean government applauds the UAE, which is a major oil producing country, for showing great leadership in these global discussions. I believe this gathering will provide an excellent opportunity to design a substantial and constructive action plan for the world's shift towards more efficient use of future energy. Q: How would you describe the level of bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Korea? A: I heard there is an Arabic adage that says "find a companion before beginning a journey". Korea and the UAE have maintained a close cooperative partnership in the past 30 years since forging diplomatic ties in 1980. In 2009, the two leaders of Korea and the UAE agreed to upgrade our relations to a strategic partnership. It shows that our two countries are committed to expanding the horizon of our bilateral cooperation from energy and construction in the past to broader areas including industry, defence, culture, and health care. In terms of health care, Korean hospitals are entering the United Arab Emirates and patients from Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been coming to Korea for treatment from December last year. Cultural cooperation has also been on the rise with more exchanges between our younger generations. In October 2010, Zayed University established King Sejong Institute together with Chungnam University. UAE University will open Korean language courses starting from this year. In 2009, Korea won a bid to build the first nuclear plant in the Middle East in the UAE. Etihad Airways provides daily flight services between Incheon and Abu Dhabi, which has laid the foundation for more people-to-people exchanges between our two countries. The UAE has stood as a traditional ally of Korea, actively providing continuous support to Korea in the international community since establishing diplomatic relations in 1980. The Korean government and its people are grateful for this friendship. As good companions, I look forward to seeing our bilateral friendship blossom into a full-fledged partnership. Q: What are the main issues you wish to discuss with the UAE high ranking officials during the visit? A: I wish to talk about strengthening cooperation in green growth and renewable energy as I have come here on the occasion of the World Future Energy Summit. Korea led the establishment of GGGI (Global Green Growth Institute) which also has a regional office here in Abu Dhabi. Korea is also a board member of IRENA which headquarters in this city. Therefore, we believe that our two countries have a lot to offer to each other in the new green industry. At the same time, Korea is interested in continuing our traditional cooperative partnership in energy including oil and gas. We expect UAE to play an active role during these times when oil prices are fluctuating due to the economic recession as well as recent political uncertainties in the Gulf region. Strengthening cooperation in nuclear energy is also an area of keen interest for Korea since we signed the nuclear plant construction deal in 2009. Korea has a great reputation of building the safest nuclear plants in the world. I assure you that safety is our most important consideration in the construction of the nuclear plant in Braka. I also wish to have deep discussions on ways to share Korea's development experience and how to further increase cooperation in health care and education. Q: Have you any ambitions of reaching any strategic economic partnership with the UAE that might open new horizons of economic and trade cooperation? A: As strategic partners, Korea and the UAE have been solidifying its strategic economic partnership in various fields including nuclear energy, renewable energy, IT, human resource development and semiconductors. We fully understand the UAE's vision to diversify its industries to prepare for the post-oil era, and with our own experience in industrial development, I believe Korea is very well positioned to support the UAE in this regard. Hence, we are continuously seeking additional areas where the two countries can achieve win-win, including industrial cooperation, cultivation of small- and medium-sized enterprises, and expansion of bilateral trade and investment. To name a few achievements we have seen since the two countries concluded the "economic agreements" in December 2009, I would first like to mention those in the nuclear energy sector. In summer 2010, Korea has invited 26 high school students from the UAE to learn about nuclear energy. In the same year, nuclear energy engineering courses were newly opened at Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) for which 4 Korean professors from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) were dispatched. Now, turning our eyes to the renewable energy sector, a joint study was performed for future participation of Korean organisations in Masdar based on the CleanTech Cluster Agreement signed in June, 2010. In the field of information and communication, the two countries hosted a knowledge-sharing workshop for information privacy in Abu Dhabi in March 2011, while also publishing and distributing a report to share Korea's expertise in ICT development in November the same year. Along with cooperation at the government level, we also need more exchanges between our businesses in the private sector to consolidate our partnership to a greater extent. With this in mind, we are making efforts not only to introduce more Korean products in the UAE market but also to raise awareness of this important market among Korean companies. To that end, Korea will continue to organise exhibitions while also sending business delegations so that awareness between businessmen of the two countries will be enhanced. This stronger mutual understanding will help increase our two countries' business presence in the ever-growing MENA market. - Emirates News Agency, WAM