KUWAIT, May 23 (KUNA) -- Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of South Korea Kim Jong-Hum asserted here on Wednesday his country's keenness to strengthen its diplomatic relations with Kuwait, which were forged in 1974 and its quest to increase the volume of mutual investment.

Kim said in his speech to the first Investment Forum between South Korea and Kuwait organized by the Korean Embassy in the country in cooperation with the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) today that relations with Kuwait are "strong and robust", pointing to the presence of Korean companies operating in the fields of energy, construction, automotive industry in Kuwait.

He explained that the volume of Kuwaiti investments in Korea amounted to USD 38 billion over the past years, expressing his country's desire to raise the volume of Kuwaiti investments in his country.

He said Kuwait is among the most important exporters of energy to his country whose share stands at about 14 percent of the total imports from the Middle East.

He noted that the volume of mutual trade between the two countries amounted last year to USD 18.4 billion.

With regard to the Korean presence in Kuwait, he pointed out that Korean contractors won recently several commercial contracts, expressing his optimism towards the development of trade and economic partnerships between the two governments on the one hand and between the Korean and Kuwaiti companies on the other.

For her part, Executive Director at National Bank of Kuwait Sheikha Al-Bahar said that the establishment of this investment forum was a "good chance" to get to know all dimensions and aspects of investment between the two countries.

She said that NBK was among many banks which provided full support to the Korean companies since the seventies when such companies took over operations of construction of the infrastructure in Kuwait.

She added that Korea has a "promising opportunities" to invest, especially in the areas of electronics, automotive and shipbuilding.