The Ministry of SMEs and Startups led by Minister Young Lee and the Saudi Small and Medium Enterprises Authority headed by Sami bin Ibrahim Alhussaini announced that they held bilateral talks in Seoul on Nov. 7 to discuss the establishment of the Korea-Saudi SMEs and Startups Cooperation road map.
The meeting took place in conjunction with Alhussaini’s visit to South Korea to attend COMEUP 2023, the country’s representative startup festival. This visit was a reciprocal gesture following Minister Lee’s participation in the Saudi startup event, Biban, last March.
During the talks, the establishment of the South Korea-Saudi SMEs and Startups Cooperation road map was the central topic of discussion. This follows up on the discussions held last June in Riyadh, where Minister Lee, along with the Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid Al Qasabi and Alhussaini, agreed to strengthen long-term cooperation in the field of SMEs and venture businesses.
Minister Lee suggested, as part of the road map agenda, cooperation with local SME support institutions to ensure the successful operation of the Riyadh Global Business Center (GBC), which was inaugurated during President Yoon Suk-yeol’s state visit to Saudi Arabia last October. On the Saudi side, there was an expression of hope that Korea would participate in the Entrepreneurship World Cup scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2024. Consequently, both institutions agreed to discuss concrete cooperation measures and schedules.
Additionally, the road map will include policies related to the Tech Incubator Program for Startup Korea and strategies to vitalize mutual market entry for SMEs from both countries. A second meeting for related discussions has been scheduled to take place next year in Saudi Arabia.