RIYADH: On the back of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to the UAE in January, both countries are looking to strengthen their trade relations as top officials met in Dubai to explore areas of mutual economic interest. UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi held a meeting with Dukgeun Ahn, South Korea’s Minister of Trade at the Ministry of Economy headquarters in Dubai, reported Emirates News Agency. The meeting explored joint investment opportunities in several priority fields including trade, industry, real estate, insurance, health, technology, digital transformation and food security. During the meeting, Al Zeyoudi underlined the strength and vitality of the UAE’s strategic partnership with South Korea, which is the result of both governments’ commitment to continuously develop and strengthen it. “Today’s meeting is yet another step forward in elevating our trade and investment partnership to new heights. We are keen to work closely with our partners in South Korea to boost trade cooperation in various sectors that offer promising opportunities for the future,” he added. DP World reports 37% jump in net profit Emirati port operator DP World reported a 37 percent rise in 2022 net profit to $1.23 billion, driven by strong revenue growth. Its revenue grew 59 percent to $17.13 billion supported by acquisitions and like-for-like growth driven by the solid performance of ports and terminals, and marine services, the company said in a filing to Nasdaq Dubai. “Our continued focus on high-margin cargo and end-to-end supply chain solutions is the key driver of these results, and we believe this strategy will continue to yield sustainable returns over the long term,” said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman and CEO, DP World Group. While the start of 2023 has been encouraging, he warned that the outlook is uncertain due to the more challenging macro and geopolitical environment, adding that they expect growth rates to soften in 2023. Al Ansari seeks to raise up to $210m Al Ansari Financial Services plans to raise up to 772.5 million dirhams ($210.4 million) from an initial public offering, the UAE-based exchange house said on Thursday. Al Ansari last week announced its intention to float 10 percent of the company on the Dubai Financial Market. The company said in a statement that it will price its shares between 1.00 and 1.03 dirhams, implying a valuation of 7.5 billion-7.73 billion dirhams. Middle East companies bucked global trends last year to raise about $22 billion through IPOs, according to Dealogic, which was more than half the total for the wider Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Ministry of Finance reports a surplus of $6.2bn in Q4-22 preliminary results The UAE’s Ministry of Finance achieved a primary surplus during the last quarter of 2022 of about 22.8 billion dirhams, on an increase in financial operations, according to the Government Finance Statistics Manual issued by the International Monetary Fund. The preliminary figures revealed an increase in state income to 143.1 billion dirhams in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to 133.9 billion dirhams during the three months in 2021. Tax revenues increased in value to 75 billion dirhams in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 58 billion dirhams during the same period in 2021, according to the report issued by the IMF. It also reported that the current spending totaled 111.2 billion dirhams, up from 127.9 billion in Q4 2021. The results showed a state-level increase in the value of net lending/borrowing to 22.8 billion dirhams in the last quarter of 2022, compared to a deficit of 2.2 billion dirhams the year before. The increase was driven by financial operations during the last three months of 2022. Net lending/borrowing is seen as an indicator of the economic impact of government activity.