South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed on Friday to expand economic cooperation, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

South Korea's Minister of Finance and Economy Kwon O-kyu and his United Arab Emirates counterpart Lubna Al Qasimi held the first South Korea-United Arab Emirates joint committee meeting in Seoul on Friday.

The two sides agreed at the meeting to launch cooperation including pushing for preliminary consultations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Seoul proposed in March to open the South Korea-GCC FTA talks this year, Yonhap said.

Lubna, Minister of Economics and Planning for the United Arab Emirates, also agreed to boost support for South Korean builders wishing to participate in large construction projects in the Arab region, including the proposed Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC railway that aims to link all GCC states, Yonhap said.

According to Yonhap, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding to boost cooperation in marine transportation, which includes exchanging technology in maritime safety and maritime environment protection.