Sudan, South Korea discuss ways to deepen economic relations
April 12, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan and South Korea discussed ways to boost bilateral economic relations between the two countries in a meeting held in Seoul on Thursday.
The South Korean delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Yun Kang-hyeon and the visiting Sudanese delegation was chaired by Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Abdel-Ghani Al-Nai’m.
In Khartoum, the foreign ministry said the two parties agreed to hold two economic forums the first in Korea and the second in Khartoum in the third trimester of 2018 to present the huge economic potential in the two countries and create a suitable atmosphere for investment to attract Korean companies to invest in Sudan.
For its part, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Yun called on the Sudanese side to improve the investment environment so that more Korean companies can actively invest.
“He also stressed the need for the speedy ratification of a Korea-Sudan double tax avoidance agreement and the signing of an investment protection agreement,” said Yonhap.
South Korea has a significant economic presence in the east African country that started in the seventies with Daewoo group. Also, Hyundai Motor Company is assembling more than 7000-10000 cars annually in cooperation with JIAD Company.
Recently LG Electronics Company moved its regional office from Nairobi to Khartoum which reflects the volume of its products distributed in Sudan besides Samsung and other Korean companies working in Sudan.
However, there is no viable statistics for the trade volume between the two countries.
Al-Naim called on the South Korean government to support Korean investors and companies willing to work to Sudan.
He further expressed hope that the U.S. administration removes Sudan from the list of countries supporting terror groups and clear remaining obstacles hampering foreign business and investments in Sudan.
(ST)