Qatar, Korea sign deals Friday, 10 February 2012 05:43

The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani with President of the Republic of Korea Lee Myung-bak in Doha yesterday. The Chairman of the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah attended the meeting. The two leaders discussed bilateral relations and ways to bolster them.

BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB

DOHA: Qatar and South Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) yesterday to strengthen bilateral ties in the area of energy, industry and natural resources.

The agreement was signed by the Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada and the Minister of Knowledge Economy of South Korea, Sukwoo Hong, here at the Four Seasons Hotel.

“We are cementing our relationship with Republic of Korea by signing further agreement in the area of energy, industry and natural resources. This MoU is going to open the gates for further cooperation in these areas,” said Dr Al Sada.

Meanwhile, RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) on behalf of Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (3) (RL3) has signed a new LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with South Korean state-owned energy company Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS).

Under the terms of the SPA, RL 3 will deliver LNG for 20 years to Korea starting in 2013,

Asked, if the agreement is part of Qatar’s ‘Look East’ policy or just a matter of coincidence, the Minister rebutted: “We are not looking towards East–West or South-North, we are cooperating with all the peace-loving nations regardless of their geographical locations. The Republic of Korea is a peaceful country striving for development like Qatar. The cooperation started long time ago.”

Both the counties have agreed to form two committees headed by the signatories to address all the potential areas of cooperation in the field of energy and industry. The respective teams will also be following up the further developments and implementations of the cooperation regularly.

Al Sada siad: “We are very happy to have this agreement singed between the two countries, and are ready to take the relationship to further heights.

With this agreement, Qatar is intending to optimally utilize the country’s huge natural resources. He further added: “I am confident that we will be able to identify and develop projects that would be mutually beneficial to both the parties not only in the economic sense but also in the continued social development of our nations.”

Under the agreement, the two parties will establish a Joint Steering Committee, which will then organise two subcommittees, with one focusing on cooperation in industry and another on energy and natural resources. The subcommittees will be assigned to explore and identify projects in their respective cooperation sectors.THE PENINSULA

| More...