UAE-S. Korea Cooperation
The Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy said on February 27,that minister Baek Woon-gyu visited the UAE for three days from February 24 and met with five ministers of the UAE and Abu Dhabi governments. In the meeting, both sides agreed to promote economic cooperation between the two nations.
The two countries saw eye to eye on looking for ways to cooperate in the field of nuclear power to jointly advance into third countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UK for nuclear power plant projects. "When Baraka Unit 1 is completed, it will be the first commercial operation of overseas nuclear power plants and the construction of the first nuclear power plant in a desert, which will serve as a great asset for advancement into overseas nuclear power plant markets," said the ministers of both nations.
In addition, both sides agreed to move forward with concrete cooperation projects in such areas as renewable energy investment and intelligent grid construction by combining the UAE's project financing capabilities and Korea's manufacturing technology.
Also on the table was joint research and development (R&D) in the field of semiconductors. In this regard, Khaldoon noted a possibility of forging strategic alliance between the UAE’s global foundry company, a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company in Abu Dhabi and Korean semiconductor companies.
To top it off, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, minister of state in the UAE and director-general and CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC Group) asked for Korean companies’ active participation in bids for Abu Dhabi’s new oil exploration projects.