Republic of Korea: Funding of Saudi purchases of Korean goods
Description
On 26 April 2011 the Korean Eximbank signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi ARAMCO whereby the former will provide loans and financial guarrantees to promote the participation of Korean firms in the oil and gas development projects of the latter. The potential scale of this initiative is significant as ARAMCO plans to invest USD 125 billion by 2015. An ARAMCO official is quoted on an official Korean website as saying "With the recent trend of projects becoming large-scale and the weak financial market, competitive export financing has become an important factor in awarding a company a contract. If the active financing efforts of Korea Eximbank ease finance-related difficulties, Korean companies will win more contracts." This initiative disadvantages non-Korean bidders for ARAMCO contracts.
Any Evidence-Based Deliberation:
| Question | Result |
|---|---|
| Is there anything in the public record to suggest that evidence of the effectiveness of the proposed measure was considered during official deliberations? | |
| Is there any evidence that alternatives to the proposed measure were considered? | |
| Is there anything in the public record that suggests that empirical evidence informed the comparison across the alternatives available to government? | |
| Was such evidence identified? | |
| Is such evidence publicly available? | |
| Did the official decision-maker in question provide an explanation as to why a chosen measure was favoured over alternatives? | |
| Is there any evidence to suggest that potentially affected trading partners were consulted before the measures were taken? | |
| Is there any evidence that safeguards have been put in place to ensure that implementation of the initiative is transparent and non-discriminatory? | |
| Did the government state its intention to review the measure within one year of implementation? |
Date Discovered: 06/07/2011
Implemented: Yes
Date of inception: 12 May 2011
GTA Evaluation: Red
Source:
"Korea Eximbank Signs MOU with Saudi ARAMCO." Press release found at www.koreaexim.go.kr
Government Response:
- 225 reads
