Kuwait keen on having partnership with S. Korea to develop creative economy - Amb. Budaiwi

KUWAIT, Nov 25 (KUNA) -- Kuwait is keen on having a partnership with South Korea to develop a "creative economy" through innovative ideas, a key policy of President Park Geun-hye, Kuwait's Ambassador in Seoul Jassem Al-Budaiwi said in remarks published Tuesday.
"Kuwait has a great interest in diversifying its economy as nearly 90 percent" of the country's income "depends on the production of oil or oil products," Al-Budaiwi said in a statement to the Korea Times.
"Thus the Kuwaiti government has been researching and exploring possible options to diversify its economy. I think that development of a creative economy can be one of the viable options we can consider," he added.
Al-Budaiwi hoped a groundwork of a creative economy partnership between the two countries could be forged.
"It is one of my goals ... to connect competent authorities from both countries to discuss and develop the idea further," he added.
President Park's creative economy policy aimed at taking the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of South Korea to a new level.
Al-Budaiwi made the remarks on sidelines of a lecture on the creative economy, given by MP Jhun Ha-jin, or the ruling Saenuri Party, at the Kuwaiti ambassador's residence in Seoul, organized by the Corea Image Communication Institute.
Jhun said President Park's creative economy was the brainchild of her years-long search for a solution to take the Korean economy to the next level.
Jhun confirmed that the idea was initially hatched in a small group gathering between Park, then a viable presidential hopeful, and a group of young entrepreneurs aged between 27 and 33 years old in January 2009.
The meeting was an eye-opening experience for Park. The presidential hopeful was exposed to diverse ideas and innovative thinking that could help the Korean economy achieve a per capita income of USD 40,000.
A flurry of meetings between Park and young professionals from all walks of life has followed since her first meeting with the tech figures in the early 2009.
"There has been a consistent topic discussed at these meetings, that radical change was needed for corporate Korea," Jhun said.
"A per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of this country was approximately USD 20,000 at that time. I thought this was impressive, considering that our per capita GDP was a mere some USD 100 in the 1960s. Korea has come this far economically from the ashes of the Korean War, thanks to the older generation's sacrifice, hard work and an education-first policy. There is no question about that," added Jhun.
New ideas and innovative thinking are necessary to achieve the creative economy goal, he noted. (end) bs