K-Doc, a group of physicians promoting Korean medicine in foreign countries, said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Arab Woman Investors Union (AWIU) to help Korean healthcare businesses enter the Arab states.

On Sunday, the two parties signed the MOU at the Arab-African Investment and International Cooperation Forum in Luxor, Egypt.

Under the agreement, the two groups will collaborate on healthcare businesses, the establishment of local hospitals and clinics in the Arab-Africa region, sending Korean physicians to the region and providing medical training for local physicians, and supporting physicians’ volunteering for the vulnerable population.

K-Doc is run by five doctors, an IT expert, and "global healthcare key opinion leaders" (GHKOL). It also has 12 consulting physicians practicing medicine worldwide and about 5,000 members.

AWIU, founded in 2005, represents elite businesswomen in the Arab League. The group encourages Arab investors to team up with foreign partners to benefit from the latest global technology, according to its website.

“The latest MOU will benefit Korean healthcare companies trying to enter the Arab world, especially those in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) including the UAE,” Cho Seung-kook, CEO and Co-founder of K-Doc, told Korea Biomedical Review.

“There is so much room for growth in healthcare in that region. The healthcare industry in the Arab world is growing much quicker than GDP.”

According to K-Doc, the world started paying particular attention to the advanced level of Korean medicine when Korean healthcare workers quickly responded to the Covid-19 pandemic under the nation’s systematic medical system.

Although Korean healthcare companies find it difficult to enter the Arab region because of physical distance and cultural differences, the cooperation between K-Doc and AWIU will accelerate their efforts to enter the Arab region, Cho added.