SEOUL — Saudi Arabia's Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammed Al-Jasser said the Kingdom wants to change the direction of economic ties with South Korea from reliance on trade to trade plus investment. He said in an interview with the South Korean news agency Yonhap and the international radio KBS on Saturday that his current visit to South Korea at the head of the Kingdom's delegation, that also includes Governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority Abdullatif Al-Othman, aims at strengthening the relationship between the two countries and opening the horizon for new economic and investment cooperation, noting that the delegation was briefed on many modern industrial zones in South Korea. Al-Jasser, who is visiting South Korea as part of a tour that also includes a number of Asian countries, said that oil will remain a major source of income for the Kingdom but there are efforts to diversify the sources of income and provide job opportunities for Saudis, noting that the Kingdom is currently witnessing an increase in the value of non-oil exports that increased to 37 percent from 26 percent in the past year. Al-Jasser added that South Korean companies have been operating in recent years in the construction industry in Saudi Arabia benefiting from the Kingdom's current construction boom. — SPA
