Korea-Qatar LED project makes progress, says envoy

The $34mn light emitting diode (LED) plant, set to be built in Qatar soon, will produce an initial 500,000 units annually, South Korean ambassador Heung Kyeong Park has said.Speaking to Gulf Times at the Korean embassy in Doha on Tuesday, the envoy said the Korea-Qatar LED project is in progress “with a view of producing LED lights tailored for the Middle East and North African market” in co-operation with Korean LED consortium and a Qatari counterpart.Heung expects the construction of the plant to start either at the end of the year or early next year after final talks between the two parties are concluded. “This is part of our efforts to further enhance cooperation between the Qatari and South Korean small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” he said.Besides the plant, South Korea will also establish a research institute in Qatar aimed at providing various training programmes on research and development for Qataris, Heung said.In addition, a Korean SME named ‘EPI’ and a Qatari company will have a joint venture to build a plant that will produce paper construction moulds. These products can be recycled to save cost and time unlike the usual (conventional) wood, steel, or aluminium moulds.In cooperation with Korean SMEs and a Qatari company, a Korean IT company will also participate in the Doha Metro project, Heung added.He also said that dozens of Korean and Qatari companies send representatives annually to the two countries to discuss trade and joint ventures. “They are expected to expand cooperation in manufacturing and in the construction industry. In 2015, some 44 Korean companies and 27 Qatari companies visited each other,” he said.Large Korean companies are also involved in various infrastructure projects in Qatar. Since Sheraton Doha was constructed by a Korean company in the late 1970s, Heung said more than 10 Korean companies are now actively participating in many projects such as Lusail Expressway, Hamad Medical City hospital, Doha Metro, and Umm Haul Power and desalination plants.Heung believes that building and operating healthcare, water, and electricity facilities would be possible areas of joint cooperation between the two countries.He stressed that Korea and Qatar have been “steady partners” in the areas of energy cooperation and infrastructure construction. Korea imports one-third of its gas consumption (13mn tonnes annually) and more than 10% of its oil consumption (100mn barrels).“On the occasion of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s visit to Korea in November 2014 and President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Qatar in March 2015, our countries have expanded their relations from energy and infrastructure cooperation to manufacturing, healthcare, education, defence and sustainable development,” Heung said.