1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the 2^nd Korea-Middle East (UAE) Public Health Cooperation Conference chaired by Director-General for African and Middle Eastern Affairs Koh Kyung-sok on November 30. The Conference, a follow-up meeting to the first one held on October 8, took place under the theme of increasing public health cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a bridgehead for Korea’s entry into the public health industry in the Middle East as well as one of the key countries in the region. The meeting was attended by officials from the UAE Embassy in Korea including Ambassador Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, who reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to expanding public health cooperation between the two countries.

2. In his opening remarks, Director-General Koh stressed the importance of cooperation among countries to prevent the spread of COVID-19 which is causing many restrictions on our daily lives and expressed hope that the two countries would develop their public health and quarantine capabilities in a mutually-beneficial manner by turning the current crisis into an opportunity for Korea’s health industry to make way into the UAE and share public health and quarantine capabilities.

o In his congratulatory remarks, Ambassador Al Nuaimi noted that there has been significant progress in public health cooperation between the two countries and expressed hope that bilateral cooperation would continue to increase in various fields of the public health industry, including convergence of public health and advanced technology and foreign direct investment (FDI).

3. Director-General of Software Policy Bureau Song Kyung Hee of the Ministry of Science and ICT also attended the meeting to promote public health cooperation based on advanced technology that was discussed in the first Conference in October as Korea’s strength in making way into the UAE’s public health industry. Director-General Song explained in detail Korea’s AI doctor “Dr. Answer” to the UAE side and explored the possibility of entering the UAE market.

o In addition, the two sides, together with participants from Seoul National University Hospital and Asan Medical Center, explored ways to increase presence of Korean hospitals and medical personnel in the UAE. The meeting was also attended by relevant associations on medical devices and pharmaceuticals as well as medical companies relating to COVID-19 prevention and control, such as those providing test kits and consultation service for disease prevention and control at airports and events, and they discussed ways to facilitate cooperation with the UAE in medical equipment and services for disease prevention and control.

4. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will accelerate discussions on strengthening public health cooperation with countries in the Middle East including the UAE, based on the ways of cooperation discussed in this meeting and continue efforts to actively support the Korean public health industry’s entry into the Middle East.