| COEX opens Muslim prayer rooms | Writer : 관리자(@) Date : 16.02.01 Hits : 2336 |
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Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Chairman and CEO Kim In-ho, fourth from left, and Tunisian Ambassador to Korea Mohamed Ali, third from right, attend the opening ceremony of a Muslim prayer room in the Korea World Trade Center, southern Seoul, Thursday. / Courtesy of KITA
COEX opens Muslim prayer rooms
The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) said Thursday
it has opened a Muslim prayer room at COEX Exhibition & Convention Center in
southern Seoul, a move to promote exchanges and trade with Muslim-majority
countries.
"Starting Thursday, two Muslim prayer rooms ― one for women and the other for men ― will be open from 3 a.m. to 10 p.m. on a daily basis on the third floor of COEX," KITA Chairman and Chief Executive Kim In-ho said in a statement. The prayer rooms are designed to help Muslim tourists and foreign businesspeople visiting the trade center, providing a location for their five daily prayers, the statement said. Demand for a prayer room has increased in recent years, as increasing numbers of Muslim visitors come to Seoul for business meetings, on incentive trips or to participate in conventions or exhibitions ― known collectively as MICE events. The rooms are equipped with Qurans, a Qibla compass which points to the direction of Mecca, prayer carpet and watches, the statement said. Muslims account for 25 percent of the world's population at 1.7 billion. Korea has close ties with many Islamic-majority states including Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as countries in Central, West and Southeast Asia. As well, there are approximately 30,000 to 35,000 indigenous Korean Muslims, in addition to foreign workers living here. Already, Korean shipbuilders which have close ties with Muslim-majority countries have offered prayer rooms in their shipyards for Muslim business partners, workers or customers. Also, local universities receiving many Muslim exchange students have opened prayer rooms in their dormitories. "In the past, our partners or customers from Muslim states used to carry a carpet and other things needed for their daily prayers," a Hyundai Heavy Industries spokesman said. "As the prayer time came, they bowed down to Allah in prayer on the shipyard even in rainy or windy days. So we set up the prayer room."
Original -> http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2016/01/123_196675.html
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