Conflicts Solved?
Chief Presidential Secretary Lim Jong-seok and Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority, met with each other in Seoul on January 9.
According to them, South Korea and the UAE are going to communicate more with each other, for even closer bilateral relations, by means of diplomatic and national security meetings as well as economic ministerial meetings and those between special envoys.
Al Mubarak expressed his interest in South Korea’s alternative energy and solar power generation technology as well as nuclear power plants and national defense technology. He also proposed direct flights between Incheon and Abu Dhabi for closer cooperation in culture and tourism.
Al Mubarak met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in after the meeting and delivered a letter from Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, saying that the Crown Prince is hoping to visit South Korea and invite the South Korean President to his country.
During their meeting, President Moon Jae-in highly appreciated the partnership of the two countries and asked Al Mubarak to help further enrich the relations. Al Mubarak, in return, said that he would do his best to further deepen their mutual trust and further develop their bilateral relations.
On the previous day (January 8), Al Mubarak met with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo. On January 9, he had a breakfast with Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Baek Woon-kyu, discussing South Korea’s and the UAE’s joint nuclear power generation project in a third country and cooperation in the field of alternative energy. At present, South Korean companies such as the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) are building four nuclear power plants in Barakah and one of the four is scheduled to be completed this year.
Al Mubarak and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy also formed a consensus on the two countries’ cooperation in Saudi Arabia’s nuclear power plant construction projects. South Korea and the UAE already signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), during the preparation of the project in Barakah, for cooperation in projects in third countries.
The minister and Al Mubarak discussed solar power generation projects in the Middle East, too. South Korea is currently planning to increase its renewable energy-based power generation ratio to at least 20% by 2030. The UAE is also planning to invest approximately US$81.6 billion in 100 innovative projects in four fields to prepare for the post-oil era. The four fields include clean energy and renewable energy development. US$34.9 billion and US$19.6 billion are estimated to be invested in the two fields, respectively.