300 top Korean firms to participate in MIK

Around 300 high-profile Korean companies from numerous sectors will participate in the Made in Korea (MIK) exhibition to be held in the UAE in May, said a senior official.

Mohammad Harfouch, Executive Director of Made In Korea 2012, told Emirates 24l7 that a host of “big names from Korea have already confirmed their participation in MIK 2012, including Kepco, KNOC, Kogas, Samsung, Hyundai, Doosan and Kumho.”

He said: “MIK 2012 will gather at least 300 high-profile Korean exhibitors from a wide range of industries including automotive, engineering, metal, hospitality, textile, electrical, chemicals, rubber & plastics, power, healthcare, ICT, media, construction, furniture, fashion and even sport. We also expect over 25,000 visitors during the three-day exhibition.”

Korean organisations are world renowned for nuclear energy, renewable energy, shipbuilding, semiconductors and ICT. Korean construction companies are also increasingly growing in prominence in the GCC, with the industry preferring them for projects, due to their unbeatable combination of track record for safety, expertise, timely completion and cost effectiveness. Moreover, Korean companies are the best in the world in a number of sectors like manufacturing of microchips, flat screens and smart phones.

MIK 2012, which will run from May 21 to 23, 2012, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), has been widely anticipated as a key networking platform between Korean and Middle East businesses that want to capitalise on the strong bilateral relations and rapidly expanding economic cooperation between the two regions. Tourism has been a particularly important focus area as tourist traffic between South Korea and the Middle East has significantly improved in the last few years with the opening of new direct flights between Korea and various cities in the Middle East.

While there are around 60,000 tourists from the Middle East who visit South Korea each year, the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) is aiming to increase the figure by over 66 per cent to reach 100,000 visitors by end of 2012, in line with the KTO’s ongoing ‘Visit Korea’ campaign.

GCC countries are particularly important growth markets for South Korea’s tourism industry, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which witnessed a 52 per cent increase in tourists to Korea during the first six months of 2011 in comparison to the same period in 2010. UAE’s tourists to Korea also increased by 16.9 per cent during the same timeframe, while the number of Kuwaiti tourists in South Korea was up by 15.7 per cent.

Faisal Al Raisi, Managing Partner at IDEAL IDEA EVENTS, organisers of MIK 2012, said: “Over the past several years we have witnessed a growing number of South Korean businessmen and investors travelling to the Middle East, taking advantage of the region’s tremendous potential for foreign trade and investment. Tourism is another strategically important area of cooperation as it complements the strong economic relations between South Korea and Middle Eastern countries by building goodwill and promoting cultural understanding between the people of both regions.”

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