DUBAI, 15 November 2006 — The South Korean city of Busan has made a twinning agreement with Dubai that will pave way for expanding bilateral relations between the two cities in the areas of trade, economy, future technologies, tourism, ports and culture.

Hussain Nasser Lootah, acting director general of Dubai Municipality and Hur Nam-sik, mayor of Busan, signed the protocol following talks between government officials from both cities and top company executives, businessmen and investors from the South Korean port city who were on a two-day visit to the emirate.

Lootah explained that the agreement was a significant step in enhancing the existing cooperation between the two cities which have many things in common. “Busan is a port city and has a large economic free zone and Dubai is also known for its free ports and many a free economic zones. A twinning agreement like this will help boost exchange of expertise and sharing of best practices,” said Lootah.

He noted that the municipality had been dealing with Korean firms in implementing civic projects since a long time.

Nam-sik said the city hosts the largest of port of South Korea and Dubai’s DP World is currently involved in a major multi-million dollar project to develop a second port in the city which is expected to be operational by 2011.

“For both of us, this twinning agreement represents a meaningful cooperation in the years to come. As Dubai is known as the fastest-growing tourist destination and a land of ambitious developments, we would be more than happy to learn from the city’s experiences in various fields. We would benchmark some of Dubai’s such accomplishments as Dubai Land for similar developments in our city,” said Nam-sik.