Saudi Arabia and South Korea have signed a total of 52 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to boost up their cooperation in various fields.
The pacts were signed between government agencies and businessmen and investors from Saudi Arabia and South Korea in Riyadh recently, at the Saudi Korean Investment Forum, during the visit of the South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to Saudi Arabia. He was in Riyadh on a four-day state visit.
The two countries signed the MoUs for strengthening cooperation and making investments in various fields. Renewable energy was also amongst the prime areas of investment for both the nations.
A large number of decision makers and business leaders from Saudi Arabia and South Korea met to explore promising investment opportunities, and open future horizons for economic cooperation between the two countries.
Addressing the forum, Assistant Minister of Investment Eng. Ibrahim Al-Mubarak noted, “Seoul is a vital investment center and is strengthening its position among the most important leading investment countries. Korean products have a strong presence in the Saudi market, he pointed out.”
Al-Mubarak said, “There has been an increase in foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia. “Last year, Saudi Arabia was the fastest growing country in the G20 economy, and investment opportunities will witness an increase by the end of the current decade.”
On his part, President of the Federation of Korean Industries Jin Roy Ryu said, “The forum renews economic and investment cooperation between the two countries spanning over 60 years. Riyadh and Seoul have enjoyed a close and broad relationship since the construction boom in the Middle East region. Seoul was able to develop construction and infrastructure in Saudi Arabia as a major national industry, thanks to the giant projects in the Kingdom that represented the driving force behind South Korea’s rise to the strongest economy today.”
“Seoul is looking forward to expanding its infrastructure work in Riyadh to include currently existing mega projects, and that the two countries have the same vision, and it is possible to lead the hydrogen sector globally, and to advance Vision 2030 efforts to transform the Kingdom’s economy into a friendly environment through the use of hydrogen,” Jin Roy Ryu said while stressing Korea’s ambition to deepen cooperation with the Kingdom in future high-tech industries.
It may be noted, last year, Saudi utility developer ACWA Power signed an MoU with South Korea’s POSCO Holdings to jointly develop green hydrogen and its derivatives such as green ammonia.
Green hydrogen is manufactured utilising renewable energy. Its development is expected to help decarbonise POSCO Group’s power generation and its steel manufacturing processes.
