SEOUL, May 21: United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum told South Korean businessmen on Monday he wants to build a “partnership” between Seoul and his booming oil-rich Gulf country.

But the UAE's energy minister said more time was needed to finalise a memorandum of understanding on stockpiling Emirat’s crude oil in South Korea.

“This visit will, God willing, strengthen ties ... and turn (them) into a partnership,” Sheikh Mohammad, who is also vice president of the UAE and Dubai's ruler, said after arriving in Seoul on a two-day visit.

A number of bilateral cooperation accords are due to be signed on Tuesday.

The UAE prime minister will meet both President Roh Moo-Hyun and his South Korean counterpart, Han Duck-Soo.

The UAE is South Korea's second largest crude oil supplier, with shipments of 158 million barrels in 2006.

Total trade between the two countries doubled in the past three years, rising from $7.96 billion in 2003 to $15.8 billion in 2006, UAE Economy Minister Sheikha Lubna al-Qassemi told the businessmen.

South Korean companies recently clinched major deals in the UAE. Two firms are building power plants there, while Samsung is building “Burj Dubai,” a tower projected to be the world's tallest skyscraper in the emirate of Dubai.

Sungwon Corp, a construction firm, said Monday it had signed a preliminary deal to take part in a multi-billion-dollar development project in Dubai, one of the seven members of the UAE federation.

Trade exchanges remain tilted in favour of the UAE, whose oil sales to Seoul last year were worth 10.6 billion dollars.

Sheikh Mohammad is leading a team of ministers and businessmen in Seoul one year after the two countries signed a series of economic agreements during a visit by Roh to the UAE.

These included an MoU that paves the way for the stockpiling of UAE oil in South Korea.

UAE Energy Minister Mohammad bin Dhaen al-Hamli told AFP on Monday that the two countries still need to work out the commercial terms of the agreement, and this requires time.

“We have signed an MoU on the broad lines ... There must be agreement on commercial aspects,” he said.

Hamli said storing oil “might not be appropriate” at this point for the UAE, which is currently pumping 2.6 million barrels per day, given the present high level of demand for crude.

“The important thing is that there be an agreement to cooperate” on oil supplies, he said.

Obaid al-Tayer, chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told AFP that Emirati businessmen can benefit from the experience of South Korean companies in project management and IT research and development.—AFP