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Seoul, Riyadh Seek Cooperation in Startups, Biotechnology

Lee Young, South Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups - Hyunghwan Joo, former South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Lee Young, South Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups - Hyunghwan Joo, former South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Seoul, Riyadh Seek Cooperation in Startups, Biotechnology

Lee Young, South Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups - Hyunghwan Joo, former South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Lee Young, South Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups - Hyunghwan Joo, former South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and South Korea are working to develop a comprehensive strategic cooperation, especially in the field of petrochemicals, energy supply chains, and the exchange of expertise and technological industries, with Seoul expressing interest in more vital partnerships that would also cover biotechnology industries and startups.

Lee Young, South Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups, said that the two countries have started a new era of cooperation in the field of developing SMEs and startups and exchanging expertise.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, she noted that while the prosperity of the Middle East in the 1970s focused on construction, petrochemicals and factories, the next boom in the region would be based on new technologies such as Deep Tech.

“In the first half of the year, we will work to promote regulatory projects that depend on the speed of performance and implementation in foreign relations, such as dispatching trade delegations and helping small and medium-sized companies and startups, which are facing problems due to the complex crisis, to open export routes,” Young said.

The South Korean minister revealed that work was underway to transform 20 Korean SMEs operating in 12 countries into global business centers to serve as a major base for expansion abroad.

For his part, Hyunghwan Joo, former South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Korean companies were looking for opportunities for cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

Joo added that Saudi Arabia was able to establish a system based on ecosystem technology, pointing to the importance of the great efforts made by the health authorities in the Kingdom to promote biological, medical and health technology.

He also expressed his country’s interest to push joint cooperation forward in the field of vaccine manufacturing.

The former minister emphasized Saudi Arabia’s interest in health care and its efforts to maximize cooperation for the production of vaccines, as well as partnerships in the field of biological industries, research and related technologies.

He added that the Kingdom, by benefiting from the expertise of Korean companies, was expected to contribute strongly to filling the region’s need for vaccines and biological health-related products in the coming years.”

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IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
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IMF: Middle East Conflict Escalation Could Have Significant Economic Consequences

Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
Displaced families, mainly from Syria, gather at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where they spent the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in Beirut, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East could have significant economic ramifications for the region and the global economy, but commodity prices remain below the highs of the past year.

IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told a regular news briefing that the Fund is closely monitoring the situation in southern Lebanon with "grave concern" and offered condolences for the loss of life.

"The potential for further escalation of the conflict heightens risks and uncertainty and could have significant economic ramifications for the region and beyond," Kozack said.

According to Reuters, she said it was too early to predict specific impacts on the global economy, but noted that economies in the region have already suffered greatly, especially in Gaza, where the civilian population "faces dire socioeconomic conditions, a humanitarian crisis and insufficient aid deliveries.

The IMF estimates that Gaza's GDP declined 86% in the first half of 2024, Kozack said, while the West Bank's first-half GDP likely declined 25%, with prospects of a further deterioration.

Israel's GDP contracted by about 20% in the fourth quarter of 2023 after the conflict began, and the country has seen only a partial recovery in the first half of 2024, she added.
The IMF will update its economic projections for all countries and the global economy later in October when the global lender and World Bank hold their fall meetings in Washington.
"In Lebanon, the recent intensification of the conflict is exacerbating the country's already fragile macroeconomic and social situation," Kozack said, referring to Israel's airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"The conflict has inflicted a heavy human toll on the country, and it has damaged physical infrastructure."
The main channels for the conflict to impact the global economy have been through higher commodity prices, including oil and grains, as well as increased shipping costs, as vessels avoid potential missile attacks by Yemen's Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea, Kozack said. But commodity prices are currently lower than their peaks in the past year.
"I just emphasize once again that we're closely monitoring the situation, and this is a situation of great concern and very high uncertainty," she added.
Lebanon in 2022 reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a potential loan program, but there has been insufficient progress on required reforms, Kozack said.
"We are prepared to engage with Lebanon on a possible financing program when the situation is appropriate to do so, but it would necessitate that the actions can be taken and decisive policy measures can be taken," Kozack added. "We are currently supporting Lebanon through capacity development assistance and other areas where possible."