The aim of the research is to suggest policy proposals for financial cooperation between Korea and the Middle East in the changing industrial and financial environments after global financial crisis and 'Arab Spring' in the late 2000s and the early 2010s. Although it can be used in diverse frameworks, financial cooperation in the research means development of cooperative financing schemes for investment projects in the Middle Eastern countries and other emerging economies. It is expected that bilateral financial cooperation will help Korean companies including small and medium sized enterprises to make direct investments in the region with job creation. This will also contribute to expansion of the private sector and reduction of the unemployment rate in the Middle Eastern countries.
Recently, industrial diversification has been promoted in response to post-oil era to lessen the degree of dependency on the oil sector in the region. The size of plant construction projects has been growing with increasing demands for financing capabilities. In the process, the role of multilateral development banks (MDBs) and export credit agencies (ECAs) has been augmented while European commercial banks have weakened financing the projects after the Eurozone crisis. Thus, it is necessary to implement government policies to activate financial cooperation with the Middle Eastern financial institutions including sovereign wealth funds and Islamic banks as well as MDBs and ECAs as Korean companies are suffering from shortage of financing sources. In the research, policy proposals for financial cooperation is divided into three fields as follows.
First, financial capabilities for global cooperation should be improved in the finance sector. Korean ECAs can play a leading role in enhancing those capabilities as they have accumulated human resources and experiences since the 1970s. Commercial banks in the private sector should make their efforts to improve their capabilities for debt financing in overseas projects in cooperation with ECAs. It is also recognized that financial cooperation with the Middle Eastern institutions could be hampered by lack of experts in development finance with understanding of regional characteristics of the Middle East.
Second, financial networks between Korea and the Middle East should be strengthened for information sharing and experts exchange, encompassing all the stakeholders related to cooperative financing. This can be developed into an investment platform finding investment opportunity in accordance with industrial and technological demands in the region. It is also necessary for Korean banks to increase their presence in the region, building their brand values and mutual understanding.
Third, co-investment between Korean and GCC investors should be encouraged to develop new projects in the emerging economies in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. Considering country risks in the emerging economies, it is necessary to establish legal and institutional frameworks for implementing various contracts in the public-private partnership projects. Moreover, co-financing models should be designed with help of multilateral development banks, which can play a significant role in financing from other commercial banks and mitigating country risks.