S. Korea, Saudi Arabia agree to enhance cooperation on wider industry fields

South Korea and Saudi Arabia agreed Friday to boost bilateral cooperation on a wider range of industry fields, such as the auto, bio and gaming sectors, while pushing to implement their agreed-upon joint infrastructure and energy projects, Seoul’s industry ministry said.

The consensus was reached during a meeting of their Vision 2030 Committee in Seoul attended by South Korea’s Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu and the Middle Eastern nation’s investment minister, Khalid Al-Falih, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The two sides agreed to push for 17 new projects on bio, gaming, auto manufacturing and smart city development fields, among others, in addition to their 39 ongoing joint projects.

The ministers also confirmed that the two nations are working to implement business deals and cooperation agreements that they signed in November last year as planned.

During Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to South Korea last year, the governments and companies of the two nations signed 26 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on the Neom city project, chemicals, renewable energy and various other industries, which were worth a combined US$30 billion.

The MOUs include the agreement between the Aramco-owned major oil refiner S-Oil and a South Korean construction firm for engineering, procurement and construction for the second phase of the Shaheen project that calls for building facilities at its plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan.

The Saudi investment ministry also signed an MOU with Hyundai-Rotem Co. on the Neom railway project.

“Newly launched projects are expected to help domestic companies find new business chances in the Saudi Arabian market,” a ministry official said. “The government will extend support for them to prop up the overall exports to the Middle East.”