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| President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, and first lady Kim Keon Hee, left, pose for the camera with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during an official welcoming ceremony at the Qasr Al Watan presidential palace in Abu Dhabi, Jan. 15. Yonhap |
Korea and the United Arab Emirates will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expand bilateral cultural cooperation as part of President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the Middle Eastern nation, Seoul's culture ministry said Monday.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Minister Park Bo-gyoon and UAE's Minister of Culture and Youth Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi will sign the MOU this week to broaden the scope of cultural exchanges between the two countries in various fields, such as the content industry, traditional culture, arts and book fairs.
The two sides are currently fine-tuning the terms of the agreement, according to the Korean culture ministry officials.
Yoon embarked on an eight-day trip to the UAE and Switzerland on Saturday.
The officials expect the signing will give a boost to various cultural exchange and cooperation programs between the countries, including participation in each other country's book fairs as guests of honor, book exchanges between national libraries, and human exchanges in the arts and content sectors.
"The signing of an MOU with the UAE, the Middle East's cultural powerhouse, is a diplomatic achievement of President Yoon's state visit to the country," Park was quoted as saying in a press release. "Starting with the signing of the MOU, we will make efforts to have the Korean culture expand its global horizons and strengthen its competitiveness riding a 'second Middle East boom.'"
The UAE is a leading cultural industry power in the Middle East, which is pushing for oil phase-out and industrial diversification policies. According to data released in May by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, the city's cultural industry ranked second in the world and first in the Middle East by attracting more than $1.3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2021. It became the first country in the Middle East and Africa to host a World EXPO the same year. (Yonhap)
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