A major South Korean hospital plans to open a fertility clinic in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, within this year, its officials said Friday.

The Cheil General Hospital & Women's Healthcare Center in Seoul signed a deal with Al Garhoud Private Hospital on the project.

The center, specializing in treating infertility, will be established at the Dubai hospital founded in 2012.

Cheil agreed to offer every necessary support including medical staff and relevant technologies.

Technologies to be transferred include preimplantation genetic diagnosis, a technique used to identify whether one or both genetic parents has a known genetic abnormality.

It would mark the first joint project between South Korea and the UAE in obstetric care, although some South Korean medical institutions are already in operation there.

"We have become able to secure a bridgehead for publicizing the superiority of our infertility treatment technology to the Middle East and the whole world," said Kim Tae-kyoung, vice chief of the Cheil hospital.

The hospital, launched in 1963, is the first medical institution in South Korea dedicated specifically to women. (Yonhap)