Saudi Crown Prince Meets with CEOs of Major Business Groups
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met with each other in the morning of Nov. 17. They agreed to expand cooperation in the fields of energy, national defense and infrastructure construction in particular.
In the afternoon, the crown prince had a meeting with the CEOs of Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, Hanwha Solutions, CJ, Doosan, DL and Hyundai Heavy Industries regarding the Neom City project.
At the same time, the two governments and enterprises had an investment forum in Seoul to sign 26 contracts and MOUs that total US$30 billion.
For example, Hyundai Rotem signed a 2.5 trillion won MOU with the Saudi Railways Organization to export high-speed trains. It will become South Korea’s first high-speed train export once the MOU becomes a contract. Samsung C&T signed an MOU with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to join the Neom Beta Community project.
According to one between the fund and five South Korean energy companies (Korea Electric Power Corporation, Korea Southern Power, Korea National Oil Corporation, POSCO and Samsung C&T), they will work together to produce 1.2 million tons of green hydrogen and ammonia a year in Saudi Arabia. The Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia signed MOUs with Lotte and DL for cooperation in the chemical sector, GL Rapha in pharmaceutical, and Shift Up in game.
In the meantime, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Italy are competing to host World Expo 2030. The 170 member states of the International Bureau of Expositions will choose one of Busan, Riyadh and Rome in November next year.
Saudi Arabia is actively promoting itself with its powerful oil money. As for South Korea, the government and enterprises are working together to attract the expo.