His Excellency Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, and Director General of Dubai Customs has received South Korea’s Consul General, Mr. Ahn Seong-Doo. The two parties explored means of developing bilateral trade and customs relations between Dubai and South Korea and the role of facilitations provided by Dubai Customs in this regard. They affirmed the need for closer cooperation and coordination in all aspects that can aid in easing trade movement.
Mr. Seong-Doo lauded DC’s efforts to constantly improve its customs services and systems in such a way as to meet the increasing needs for trade facilitation through expediting shipment clearance procedures. He particularly praised the incessant technological development of the Department’s services which recently transformed into 100 % smart ones available via mobile phones 24/7.
Welcoming the South Korean diplomat, Mr. Ahmed Butti commended the excellent level attained by trade relations between Dubai and Seoul. He said, “we are very keen to strengthen our mutual bounds with the trade sector of South Korea, by providing best customs services and facilitations to ensure easy and obstacle-free access of South Korean goods into the local markets.”
He remarked Dubai's foreign trade with South Korea grew by 13% for the period from January to September 2013, reaching a value of AED 18.3 billion compared to only AED 16.2 billion for the same period of 2012. Imports surged to AED 17.3 billion compared to AED 15.6 billion during the period from January to September 2012, while exports and re-exports increased to AED 991 million in the first nine months of the current year, compared to AED 672 million for the same period last year.
Mr. Butti added that the continued development of trade relations and investment between the United Arab Emirates and South Korea offers great potential for boosting mutual trade and flow of investments as Korean companies expand their operations in more and more infrastructure and energy projects nationwide. “So we at Dubai Customs endeavour to support the development of business relations between both countries by attracting more traders from South Korea to take Dubai as a springboard for their business in the Middle East, Europe and Africa,” he said.
Mobile phones, cars and satellite receivers constitute about 73% of Dubai's imports from South Korea, with a value of AED 7.4 billion. Raw aluminium, waste aluminium and waste copper, on the other hand, account for around 44% of total exports and re-exports from Dubai to South Korea, with a value worth AED 433 million.
The UAE is the largest export market for South Korean products in the Middle East. The country is also second on the list of middle eastern markets that most attract investments from South Korea.