On October 22nd local time, during the Saudi Arabia South Korea Forum, the two countries signed 52 cooperation memorandums, with a scale of over 15.6 billion US dollars. This move marks an important step in strengthening cooperation in various fields and promoting investment.
According to the agreement, both parties will conduct comprehensive cooperation in various fields such as tourism, supply chain, real estate development, technology, and transportation.
At the same time, according to foreign media reports, the two countries have also established a joint fund with over 160 million US dollars to further support their investment activities.
Ibrahim Al Mubarak, Assistant Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia, stated that Seoul is an important investment center. He emphasized the important position of Korean products in the Saudi Arabian market.
Al Mubarak pointed out that last year, Saudi Arabia was one of the fastest growing economies among the G20 countries, and its foreign direct investment has also increased in recent years. Al Mubarak stated that investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia will continue to increase by the end of this decade.
With the continuous increase in investment and trade activities between the two countries, the economic ties between Saudi Arabia and South Korea have become increasingly close, further enhancing the level of economic development of both countries.
As early as November last year, during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Ben Salman to South Korea, the two countries had signed a $29 billion investment agreement and memorandum of understanding.
South Korea hopes to take advantage of Saudi Arabia's economic transformation to invest in energy, infrastructure, electric vehicles, shipbuilding, smart farms, and other fields in Saudi Arabia.
According to Korean media reports, according to the cooperation documents, Hyundai Construction and the Saudi Ministry of Investment have decided to engage in investment cooperation in the fields of real estate and infrastructure. This includes seawater desalination projects and the Saudi New Future City project.
Meanwhile, during the forum, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced a joint venture agreement with Hyundai to jointly establish a highly automated automotive manufacturing factory in Saudi Arabia, with a total investment of over $500 million.
The South Korean Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Resources stated that South Korean National Petroleum Corporation and Saudi Aramco have signed a "crude oil joint reserve contract" allowing them to jointly store oil in Ulsan, South Korea. South Korean National Petroleum Company will have the right of first refusal to purchase up to 5.3 million barrels of oil from Saudi Aramco's oil depot in Ulsan.
In addition, the two countries have also decided to cooperate in hydrogen energy production, circulation, utilization, and related systems in the hydrogen energy ecosystem.