Korean firms to join Abu Dhabi ecosystem

Abu Dhabi and South Korea boost tech ties during Yoon’s state visit

Two South Korean companies — H2O Hospitality (H2O) and Korean Best Team for Smart Farm Consortium (K-BTS Consortium) — will join Abu Dhabi’s innovation ecosystem, it said yesterday.

H2O automates the front and back-end process of hotel operation by digitally converting existing manual hotel tasks, enabling paperless and contactless hotel operations that increase greater efficiency and profitability. H2O manages over 40,000 rooms in Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, and will establish its MEA HQ in Abu Dhabi. The HQ will include an R&D facility and digital transformation academy for the hospitality industry.

“H2O leads Digital Transformation of hotels in major tourist cities around the world, allowing hotels to reinforce sustainability without relying on booking agencies,” said John LEE, Founder & CEO of H2O Hospitality. “Recently, the tourism industry in the Middle East, such as Dubai Expo, Gitex, D33 and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, is attracting attention worldwide. “We want to create synergies together and support the UAE to become the centre of the global tourism industry.”

AgTech leadership

K-BTS Consortium will leverage Abu Dhabi’s AgTech leadership to operate six smart farms producing fresh Korean strawberries yearround in Abu Dhabi through $16 million investment.

“Without a second thought, we have chosen Abu Dhabi as the first country in GCC to localise Korean Strawberry Smart Farm technologies,” said Sang Hoon YANG, Managing Director of Mena Office, Pomit. “We plan to expand to other Middle East countries, Africa and Europe based on the success in Abu Dhabi in near future. K-BTS Consortium will go with the local partner beyond K-Strawberry to other high value crops.”