Middle East sovereign funds seek projects with Korea

Officials from leading sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East said on Tuesday that they are looking for more collaborative investment projects with Korean partners.

Invited by the Korea Investment-Trade Promotion Agency, or KOTRA, officials from the Investment Corporation of Dubai, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the Gulf Investment Corporation joined the two-day Middle East Business Week, which launched on Tuesday in Seoul. KOTRA hosts the event annually under a different agenda to promote bilateral business cooperation between Korea and the Middle East.

“Generally speaking, I think there is a lot of potential for doing business in many sectors with Korean companies in the Middle East. Companies in the Middle East cannot utilize that potential yet, and so we may see a lot of business cooperation with Korean companies over the next few years,’’ said Yousef Al Assoomi, an investment analyst from the Investment Corporation of Dubai. ICD, created in 2006, is the 14th-largest sovereign wealth fund with $70 billion in assets under management.

ICD has recently launched a number of strategic initiatives with global partners. Partnership with Samsung Life Insurance is one of them.

“We’ve been doing research with Samsung on a business opportunity in the life insurance sector in the Middle East and North Africa region after signing a memorandum of understating with Samsung Life Insurance in May this year,’’ he said, adding that trust in the Samsung brand and the Korean firm’s experience in the life insurance business fueled the partnership.

Beyond the financial sector, Malek E. Alajeel, a senior vice president at the Gulf Investment Corporation, suggested Korean companies invest in infrastructure projects and industrial companies in the Middle East. GIC, created in 1983 by six nations that comprise the Gulf Cooperation Council, manages $6 billion in assets.

By Seo Jee-yeon  (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)