ABU DHABI // The Emirates is keen to learn from South Korea's industrial and technical expertise, said Sheikh Khalifa, President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, after a contract was awarded to build four nuclear reactors. The nation looks forward to a "successful development experience and transferring economic know-how, particularly in the areas of technology, industry and technical fields through joint investment projects", Sheikh Khalifa said after talks with Lee Myung-bak, the South Korean president.
The statement is a reflection that co-operation between the two nations will be much wider than the building of power facilities by a consortium of South Korean companies. The group is led by Korea Electric Power Corporation and will include the construction units of the Samsung and Hyundai conglomerates. Westinghouse, a unit of Japan's Toshiba, will also participate. "Our relationship with South Korea, which has seen sustained growth in recent years, has ushered into a new era of strategic partnership which will serve interest of the two countries," Sheikh Khalifa was cited by WAM, the official UAE news agency, as saying.
South Korea is one of the UAE's major trade partners and is the largest customer for its crude oil. The trade volume between the countries totalled $15.8bn in 2006, Abdullah Mohammed al Maainah, the UAE Ambassador to Seoul, has said. Korean exports to the UAE jumped 55.2 per cent last year, its embassy said this week. Figures from 2007 show that Korean firms sold products worth $3.7bn ranging from cars to mobile phones to the UAE.
Following a similar path, Emirati exports to South Korea, mostly in the form of crude oil, naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas, surged 52.1 per cent in 2008. Analysts and officials said it was natural for the UAE to choose the South Korean consortium, not only because it offered the best deal in terms of technical and economic aspect, but for the long-running economic relationship between the two countries.
Selecting South Korea made sense when the trade numbers are considered - and for other reasons as well, UAE officials and observers said. The agreement will fix the relationship between the countries well into the future, said Khaldoon al Mubarak, the chairman of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec). "The nature of this project will require a partnership that endures for nearly 100 years," he said yesterday.
Choosing Korea also reflected a long-standing UAE policy to diversify its suppliers of technology and know-how in different fields, said Dr Theodore Karasik of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai. "It's another fine example of how the UAE is diversifying whether in the military and defence or economy or energy," he said. He also stressed that Korea's 30 years of experience in manufacturing nuclear reactors was key to choosing the Asian nation.
"The UAE likes to go with the best of the best," said Dr Karasik. "Apparently the Koreans have their act together. They're able to promise what they deliver. "This has been a tendency for the last few years. I don't see it as differentiating between East and West. Instead, they're looking around the world to see who has the best technology." The other bidders included a French consortium that included Areva, GDF Suez, Electricite de France and Total as well as a US-Japanese group that included General Electric and Hitachi.
Enec made it clear that the other bidders would benefit in areas outside the scope of the prime contract in terms of supplying fuel, training and joint investments. US companies such as General Electric will benefit further because some of the components used by Korean firms are made in the US, analysts have said.
mhabboush@thenational.ae
