August 28, 2005
Venezuela seeks cooperation with Korea in energy sector

(The Korean Herald) - "A visiting Venezuelan diplomat said here he hopes for wider cooperation with South Korea in the energy industry, combining Korea's sophisticated technology and the Latin American country's huge natural resources.

William Izarra, Vice Foreign Minister of Venezuela, was in Seoul for four days to bolster two countries' 40-year friendship and met high-level officials and key enterprises to discuss a progressive approach and deepening political, economic and cultural relationships.

'We have the natural resources. Korea has the technology,' said Izarra, whose country is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

'Although Korea does not have much energy resources on land, especially no oil production, it has the skill to dig up oil and manage the production. We need to get that.'

South Korea, the seventh largest oil consumer and fifth largest net oil importer in the world, has 17 overseas exploration and production projects in 13 countries, including Venezuela.

Venezuela exports to Korea materials like iron and other metals and Orimulsion, a combustible fossil fuel for the production of energy. Izarra said Korea imports a large amount of Orimulsion, a fuel derived from the bitumen that occurs naturally in large reserves in the 700 kilometer long Orinoco oil belt in his country.

He wants to pursue a plan under which Korean government officials will visit Venezuela to see if there is any other energy resource besides Orimulsion that Korea might need, then research how efficiently Venezuela can process and provide these resources to Korea.

Izarra, who was appointed by President Hugo Chávez seven months ago, thinks his country needs to learn many things from South Korea.

'I was surprised by how much and how fast South Korea has grown up. South Korea now plays such an important economic role in the world, providing a number of new technologies by its conglomerates,' Izarra said. 'In some areas, like ship production, Korea is far superior to some other developed countries.'

Venezuela has undergone new political, economic and social changes since Chávez was elected in 1999. Izarra said it has opened its doors to all nations that wish to invest in its economic and social development, and opportunities are there for Korea.

Also, as a new member of the Inter-American Development Bank, Korea is now able to compete in work bids in Venezuela on projects financed by that institution.

'Our country's economy used to heavily depend on oil exports,' Izarra said. 'So, we imported everything else. But the government is trying to build up the foundation to manufacture our own products'.

He noted that Venezuela's trade used to be focused on the United States and European countries. 'But in this globalization world, Asia became very important. We want to apply a system that looks at the world as a whole, not just lopsided trade with the North like we have done,' Izarra said.

In April, marking 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between two countries, the Venezuelan government decided to allow South Korean tourists into the country for up to 90 days without a visa (...)".