President Yoon Suk Yeol (fifth from left), on a state visit to Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 22 claps while taking a photo at a ceremony to mark a deal on a joint venture auto plant signed by Hyundai Motor Group and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund at the hotel Fairmont Riyadh in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Kim Yong Wii from Office of the President)

By Lee Jihae

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in Seoul on Oct. 22 said a bilateral investment forum with Saudi Arabia in the latter's capital of Riyadh saw 46 memorandums of understanding (MOU) and contracts signed, including one on Korea's first auto plant in the Middle East. 

Forty 40 MOUs and six deals were signed at this forum, which was jointly hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries and the Saudi Ministry of Investment.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction (E&C) and the Saudi ministry at the forum signed a contract to build a joint venture plant to produce 50,000 gas-powered and electric vehicles (EV) per year, Korea's first in the Mideast.

Korea's KG Mobility Consortium signed an MOU to set up a supply chain for automotive parts and Korean auto parts maker CTR concluded on building a plant for EV components. 

The Korean ministry said, "This is expected to contribute to the formation of supply chains in the overall automotive industry following the setup of such chains in shipbuilding."

In energy, Korea Electric Power Corp. aka KEPCO, Posco Holdings and Lotte Chemical each reached collaborative deals in hydrogen, including the signing of a letter of intent on producing blue ammonia with Saudi Aramco in a project worth USD 15.5 billion. 

Seven contracts and MOUs were also concluded joint oil stockpiling and participation in joint tenders.

In the energy and plant sector, the eight deals reached included one between Hyundai E&C and the Saudi ministry on investment in real estate and infrastructure and another on cooperation in smart city development of Neom, a massive futuristic Saudi city under construction.

In finance, the Korean Trade Insurance Corp. and Saudi Aramco signed a memorandum of cooperation worth USD 3 billion to support Korean companies secure contracts from Aramco. 

Other collaborations were achieved in high-tech industries, manufacturing, smart farms, biotechnology and robotics.

"Through the 'Korea-Middle East Committee for Promotion of Public-Private Economic Cooperation,' we plan to fully support all 128 collaborative projects to ensure their smooth progress," the Korean ministry said. "The projects include 26 worth USD 29 billion concluded at the investment forum in November last year and 56 identified during the fourth meeting of the bilateral Vision 2030 committee in October last year."

jihlee08@korea.kr