JEDDAH/SEOUL — South Korea and Saudi Arabia have agreed to exempt Korean builders from business restrictions for them to enter the Kingdom’s SR225 billion ($60 billion) housing market, officials said Friday.

Under the new agreement, the top 20 Korean companies and the state-run land developer Land & Housing Corp. are expected to be exempted from diverse regulations and be given support in bidding.

Saudi Arabia has been continuously attracting massive investments and remains a favored destination for real estate developers around the world.

Despite global economic woes, the Saudi housing industry witnessed remarkable growth opportunities and became the fastest growing housing industry in the Middle Eastern region.

Shuwaish Al-Duwaihi, the Kingdom’s Housing Minister, and Kwon Do-yeop, Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Minister of South Korea, met in Seoul to confirm the agreement tentatively made during summit talks in February.

“Together with regulatory support, we will consider allowing Korean firms to participate in bidding for a housing project without local agencies,” Al-Duwaihi was quoted as saying by the ministry.

Officials said that local companies would enjoy the proposed benefits as early as late July when the bidding for a housing project of 7,000 units is scheduled to start in the Kingdom.

According to the Korean ministry, 500,000 houses are planned for Saudi Arabia this year alone.

If a Korean firm wins in the upcoming bidding, it would come 27 years after Hanjin Heavy Industries participated in a Saudi construction project worth $481.36 million in 1985, the ministry said.

The Land Ministry since last year has held several meetings with the Saudi government to pave the way for local firms to enter the Saudi Arabian construction market.

A recent study showed that the annual housing demand is expected to grow 18 percent during 2010-13. — SG