Presidential Office: "Samsung and GS Win 9.7 Trillion Won Saudi Gas Expansion Contract... Result of High-Level Diplomacy"

Positive Signs for Achieving This Year's Overseas Construction Order Target of 40 Billion Dollars

The Presidential Office announced on the 3rd that Samsung E&A and GS Construction have won the contract for the 'Fadili Gas Expansion Program' project, promoted by Saudi Arabia's national oil company Aramco near Jubail in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

The Fadili Gas Expansion Program project, valued at $7.2 billion (9.7 trillion KRW), surpasses the Amiral project (worth $5 billion, approximately 6.7 trillion KRW) won in June last year, marking the largest achievement in the history of Korean companies winning contracts in Saudi Arabia.

Among global overseas construction contracts, this is the third largest project following the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2009 ($19.1 billion) and the Bismayah New City in Iraq in 2012 ($7.7 billion).

The Presidential Office evaluated this as a positive sign for achieving this year's overseas construction contract target of $40 billion. From January 1st of this year to the day before, the amount of overseas construction contracts reached $12.72 billion, more than double the $6.11 billion during the same period last year.

The Presidential Office explained that this achievement resulted from President Yoon Suk-yeol's summit diplomacy, including the meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in November 2022 and the state visit to Saudi Arabia in October last year, which strengthened the foundation for construction and infrastructure cooperation between the two countries. During his visit to Korea, Crown Prince bin Salman agreed with President Yoon to develop bilateral relations into a future-oriented strategic partnership and to promote large-scale economic cooperation in the infrastructure sector.

At the '50th Anniversary of Korea-Saudi Construction Cooperation' ceremony held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in October last year, President Yoon stated, "Korea and Saudi Arabia must open a new era of infrastructure economic cooperation based on the solid foundation built so far."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is taking a commemorative photo with Crown Prince Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who visited the Riyadh Guest Palace on the 24th (local time). After their conversation, President Yoon and Crown Prince Bin Salman moved together to the Future Investment Initiative Forum discussion venue. [Photo by Yonhap News]

At the ceremony, Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco, also attended and signed the contract for the Jafurah Phase 2 Gas Plant under the presence of President Yoon, indicating that construction cooperation between the agencies of the two countries is already entering a new phase, according to the Presidential Office.

In fact, last year alone in Saudi Arabia, infrastructure projects worth $9.5 billion were won, including the Amiral project (June 2023, $5 billion) and the Jafurah Phase 2 Gas Plant (October 2023, $2.4 billion), and the total global overseas construction contracts reached $33.3 billion last year.

A Presidential Office official stated, "The government plans to comprehensively support the acquisition of mega projects in infrastructure, plants, and smart cities from major clients such as Saudi Arabia's Aramco, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), and NEOM, based on the strong trust established between the two heads of state. Along with this, the government, public enterprises, and financial companies will work as one team to support the acquisition of large-scale construction projects worldwide, including petrochemical plants, railroads and other transportation infrastructure, and seawater desalination facilities, continuously generating results from summit diplomacy."