Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal Al- Maliki on Thursday asked South Korean companies to join Iraq's efforts to develop oil fields and rebuild its industrial facilities, the South Korean Presidential Office said Thursday.

"South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Al-Maliki discussed ways to have South Korean officials attend the signing ceremony of 'International Compact with Iraq,' scheduled to take place on May 3 in Egypt and agreed to further strengthen bilateral economic cooperation," the office said in a press release following a summit between Roh and Al-Maliki.

"The South Korean government's aid in Iraq's reconstruction efforts and ways to help Korean enterprises seeking to advance into the Iraqi market were also discussed at the summit," it said.

Al-Maliki arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for a three-day visit. He met with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo Wednesday evening over dinner hours and ministers discussed measures to expedite South Korean companies' inroads into Iraq's reconstruction sector.

Al-Maliki, accompanied by the country's ministers in charge of petroleum, power generation, industrial policy and urban planning, plans to tour South Korea's key industrial facilities before leaving the country on Friday.

He is the highest-ranking Iraqi official to visit South Korea since the inauguration of the Iraqi interim government last May. Iraq reopened its embassy in Seoul on Nov. 30 last year and resumed the South Korea-Iraq economic cooperation committee meeting in February.

South Korea has deployed troops in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil since 2004. There are about 2,300 South Korean troops now operating in Irbil.

Source: Xinhua