Korea-UAE Cooperation

President Park Geun-hye shakes hands with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, at the Emirate Palace Hotel in the UAE on May 20 (local time).
President Park Geun-hye shakes hands with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, at the Emirate Palace Hotel in the UAE on May 20 (local time).

 

President Park Geun-hye met with Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, on May 20 and promised to work more closely together in the field of nuclear power generation. She also asked for greater participation of Korean companies in mega-scale projects for the construction of petrochemical complexes, railway networks, and the like worth US$40 billion combined.

“I had to cancel most of my schedule, except for the reactor installation ceremony in Barakah, due to the Sewol ferry disaster,” said the President, adding, “I believe that our bilateral cooperation in atomic power generation, which has symbolized the two countries’ century-long partnership, will get a further boost through the ceremony.”

The Crown Prince responded by saying, “I would like to express my condolences to everyone suffering from the accident along with my deep gratitude for President Park Geun-hye’s visiting our country to keep her promise with us under such circumstances.” A total of four nuclear power stations are scheduled to be built in the UAE by 2020 at a combined cost of approximately US$40 billion.

In the meantime, the consortium of the Korea National Oil Corporation and GS Energy succeeded in producing petroleum on a commercial scale at an undeveloped exploration site in the UAE. It is going to assess the reserve and set up development plans this year, declare commercial viability in 2015, and start full-scale production in 2017.

The consortium concluded a contract with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) two years ago to work on three local undeveloped properties and participate in the development of two onshore and one offshore sites of the ADNOC with an equity share of 40 percent. In addition, the two countries agreed recently to expand their cooperation in the medical field through the simplification of pharmaceutical licensing and exemption of due diligence for pharmaceutical factories. They are also planning to help local financial institutions do business in both countries by means of an MOU for comprehensive assistance.

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