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| ▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L, front) and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (R, front) walk to a meeting room after a welcoming ceremony at Al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Oct. 22, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (R) attend an MOU signing ceremony at the Amiri Diwan, the emir's office, in Doha on Oct. 25, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap) |
(News Focus) Yoon-Middle East trip
(News Focus) Yoon's trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar raises hope for 2nd Middle East business boom
By Lee Haye-ah
DOHA, Oct. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol wrapped up a five-day trip to Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Wednesday after a series of summits and events aimed at expanding the playing field for South Korean businesses in the Middle East.
Yoon's trip came as both Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been pushing to move their countries away from an oil-centric economy through ambitious projects to develop smart cities and build knowledge-based, high value-added industries.
That presented an opportunity for South Korean businesses to expand their cooperation beyond the traditional areas of energy and construction to new sectors, including the defense industry, cutting-edge technologies, shipbuilding and culture.
The total value of contracts and memorandums of understanding (MOU) signed on the occasion of Yoon's visits to the two countries came to US$20.2 billion, giving rise to hopes of a second Middle East business boom following the wave of construction orders won by South Korean companies in the 1970s.
During a four-day state visit to Riyadh, Yoon held a summit with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and agreed to deepen and develop the future-oriented strategic partnership between the two countries.
The two countries' companies and institutions signed 51 deals and MOUs worth a total of $15.6 billion on the sidelines, including a contract between the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. and Saudi Arabia's state-run oil giant, Saudi Aramco, to create a joint crude oil reserve of 5.3 million barrels at a storage facility in the South Korean city of Ulsan.
South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Engineering Co., and Saudi Aramco also signed a $2.4 billion deal to construct a gas processing plant in the Jafurah gas field, known to be the largest liquid-rich shale gas play in the Middle East with an estimated 200 trillion standard cubic feet of natural gas.
In addition, South Korea's presidential office revealed that the two countries were in the final stage of talks over large-scale defense industry cooperation in areas including antiaircraft defense systems and firearms.
From Riyadh, Yoon traveled to Qatar for a two-day state visit.
During a summit with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the two sides agreed to upgrade their relations to a "comprehensive strategic partnership," which calls for strengthening strategic cooperation between the two countries, including by expanding diplomatic and security communication channels, and enhancing cooperation in defense and the defense industry.
As part of the agreement, the two sides signed an MOU on cooperation in munitions and the defense industry, which calls for exchanging defense industry information and establishing a related joint committee.
The visit saw the conclusion of a raft of MOUs and one contract worth $3.9 billion between South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Qatar's state-owned petroleum company QatarEnergy for the construction of 17 liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.
The contract is the largest ever for South Korea's shipbuilding industry and increased South Korean companies' share of the world's LNG carrier orders this year from 74 percent to 81 percent, according to the presidential office.
The 11 MOUs were signed in a range of sectors, including smart farming, solar energy, driverless cars, cultural content, medical services and finance.
Yoon was the first South Korean president to pay a state visit to either nation.
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