Meets with Neom CEO and Saudi Ministers
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong recently visited Saudi Arabia for four days, leading One Team Korea, a team set up to help Korean builders and IT companies win overseas projects. Concluding the visit, Won held a briefing session about the team’s activities and achievements at the Korean Embassy in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 8 (local time).
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, the minister met with Nadhmi Al-Nasr, CEO of Neom who is orchestrating the US$500 billion Neom City project, to introduce world-class Korean companies in the fields of construction, smart cities, mobility and IT.
During the meeting, Won proposed that Neom hold an exhibition on the project in Korea, and host seminars between Saudi Arabian engineers and Korean experts. The Neom CEO welcomed the proposal and said if Neom holds such exhibitions in Asia, it will do it first in Korea, Won said.
Won also with Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia that finances giga projects in Saudi Arabia. He learned about projects under the PIF such as Neom City, Red Sea and Qiddiya projects as well as the Amiral Petrochemical Complex and Jafurah Cogeneration Power Plant promoted by Aramco.
"We have obtained detailed information about projects promoted by the PIF and Aramco,” Won said. “We are planning to make many proposals by assembling ideas from related government ministries. If framework agreements are reached at high levels between the Korean government and the Saudi Arabian government and between the Korean government and the PIF and Neom, Korean companies will be able to have better negotiations with their Saudi Arabian counterparts, I think.”
In a meeting with Majid Al-Hogail, minister of municipal and rural affairs and housing, Won received his promise to visit Korea at the end of November. The two ministers agreed to share their smart city policies and the two countries’ housing policy execution experiences and hold a joint seminar on housing and smart cities in Korea from Nov. 28 to 29.
In a meeting with Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, minister of transport and logistic services, who jointly held the One Team Korea Road Show held on Nov. 6, Won discussed the texts of two MOUs between Korea and Saudi Arabia, one on future mobility and the other on road construction and management.
During this business trip, Won visited a construction section of The Line tunnel constructed by Samsung C&T and Hyundai E&C at the Neom City site.