Bin Salman’s Generous Investment... 'The Second Middle East Boom'

Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman Visits Korea... Holds Talks with President Yoon
Focus on 'NEOM City'... Agreements on Nuclear Power and Defense Industry
26 Investment and MOU Deals Signed... Trillion-Won Scale Projects

Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman Visits Korea After 3 Years and 5 Months
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Muhammad bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, arrived at Seoul Airport around 12:30 a.m. on the 17th. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo welcomed him.
This is the first visit by Crown Prince Bin Salman to Korea in 3 years and 5 months since June 2019. 2022.11.17 [Provided by the Prime Minister's Office. Resale and DB reproduction prohibited]
kimsdoo@yna.co.kr
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[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan, Sejong=Reporter Lee Junhyung] President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who arrived in Korea on the 17th. In line with Crown Prince bin Salman's visit, Korea and Saudi Arabia signed investment and business agreements (MOUs) worth tens of trillions of won. There is growing anticipation that if cooperation proceeds as planned, Korea could experience a 'second Middle East boom.'

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon held talks with Crown Prince bin Salman and had lunch together. During the meeting, President Yoon and Crown Prince bin Salman focused on discussing the world's largest smart city construction project, NEOM City, with a total project cost of $500 billion (approximately 668 trillion won). President Yoon reportedly mentioned the competitiveness of domestic companies and brought up specific government-level consultation matters. Considering that Crown Prince bin Salman is effectively the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, discussions also reportedly covered infrastructure projects linked to NEOM City development, as well as nuclear power generation and defense industries.

The governments of both countries held an investment forum at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul and signed MOUs consecutively. The forum was attended by Minister Lee Chang-yang of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Minister Khalid Al-Falih of the Saudi Ministry of Investment, who witnessed the MOU signing ceremony. The number of MOUs and investment contracts signed that day were 23 and 3, respectively. The planned project costs for each MOU are in the 'trillion' won range.

Specifically, Hyundai Rotem signed an MOU on railway cooperation for NEOM City with the Saudi Ministry of Investment. The main focus is on building railway infrastructure within NEOM City. If Hyundai Rotem wins the Saudi high-speed rail project in the future, it will mark the first export success of domestically produced high-speed trains. The scale of the Saudi high-speed rail project amounts to 2.5 trillion won.

Cooperation in next-generation energy fields is also being promoted. Five companies, including Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Samsung C&T, signed an MOU on green hydrogen development cooperation with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). This project involves investing $6.5 billion (approximately 8.6 trillion won) to build a 400,000 square meter green hydrogen production complex in Yanbu on the Saudi Red Sea coast from 2025 to 2029. Green hydrogen is eco-friendly hydrogen obtained by electrolyzing water using electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as solar power.

Large-scale investment from the Saudi side was also made. Saudi state-owned company Aramco's subsidiary, S-Oil, confirmed plans to promote the Shaheen (meaning 'falcon' in Arabic) project, a mega petrochemical business investing about 8 trillion won in Ulsan, and signed EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contracts with three domestic construction companies including Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Lotte Engineering & Construction. This is the largest single foreign investment made in Korea.

Meanwhile, during the talks, President Yoon reportedly discussed ways to maintain a cooperative relationship between Korea and Saudi Arabia alongside friendly competition, as Saudi Arabia is a competing country for hosting the 2030 Busan World Expo. In the Expo competition, Saudi Arabia, backed by 'oil money,' initially holds an advantage, but through a series of recent visits by President Yoon, Busan's competitiveness in the international community has significantly increased. The Expo host city will be decided in November next year.