Abu Dhabi Exports Office (Adex), the export finance arm of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, held talks with the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim), the credit agency of South Korea, to discuss ways to strengthen collaboration. The meeting, which was led by acting director general of Adex Khalil Al Mansoori and chief representative of Kexim’s Dubai office Chol-kyu Lee, aimed at building strong trade relations between the UAE and South Korea, the entities said in a joint statement on Thursday. They discussed co-financing solutions for Korean organisations seeking to import goods and services from the UAE and projects that are to be carried out by Korean EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractors, provided these projects use materials or expertise from the UAE. The meeting also highlighted the opportunity for export credit agencies. “Our meeting was a testament to the commitment of the two institutions to enable the export industry of our countries to achieve their aspirations and objectives,” Mr Al Mansoori said. “We are confident that our discussions will significantly positively impact the export dynamics and relations between the UAE and South Korea. However, the larger objective of our endeavour is to boost our respective economies.”
Established in 2019, Adex aims to provide financing solutions and guarantees to UAE exporters and import companies dealing with the Emirates. It offers buyer-credit facilities for import of Emirati products and services, paving the way for Emirati-owned export companies to find new markets for their products while reducing potential payment risk. The UAE is South Korea's top Arab trading partner, accounting for about 27 per cent of its total trade with other Arab countries. In the first half of 2021, non-oil trade between the two countries grew to Dh8 billion ($2.17bn), while UAE exports to South Korea rose by 55 per cent annually to more than Dh300 million. The volume of non-oil trade between the two countries was about Dh4.9bn in 2020.