Saudi and Korean companies sign 26 MoUs during Crown Prince’s visit to Seoul

Saudi and South Korean firms signed 26 Memorandums of Understanding at their investment forum in Seoul on Thursday amid arrival of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to the country.

 
The agreements include a $7 billion petrochemical project by S-Oil, the biggest single foreign investment, as well as Hyundai Rotem’s railroad and hydrogen train development cooperation related to Saudi’s NEOM city project.

The crown prince's trip to Seoul is his first since 2019.  
 
According to the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, five of the business agreements were made with Saudi Ministry of Investment, including Hyundai Rotem’s NEOM railways.
 
Of the business-to-business agreements, S-Oil’s investment was the largest. Saudi’s Aramco is the largest stakeholder of S-Oil.
 
The company signed a contract with three Korean construction companies including Hyundai E&C for a petrochemical plant project “Shaheen” in Ulsan.
 
The Shaheen project aims to build the world’s biggest steam cracker, which performs a petrochemical process that breaks saturated hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane and light naphtha in producing the unsaturated hydrocarbon, ethylene.
 
S-Oil has set its goal of expanding its production of petrochemicals to 25 percent from current 12 percent by 2030.
 
Hyundai Rotem signed an agreement with the Saudi Ministry of Investment to build the rail system for NEOM city and work on the development of hydrogen fueled trains.
 
An MOU was also signed between Samsung C&T with Saudi Public Investment Fund on a 3D modular construction project that will be used in the development of the future cities in Qiddiya and the Red Sea.
 
Korea Venture Investment Corporation announced it signed a MOU with Saudi Venture Capital Company to create a joint fund to provide funding to start-ups and small to mid-sized enterprises aiming to do business in other countries.  
 
Saudi Arabia’s venture capital says it is highly interested in funding e-sports and entertainment companies.  
 
Arabio, a Saudi Arabian biotech company, also announced at the forum that it signed a MOU with an unnamed Korean company.
 
The company said it hopes for further cooperation with Korea in vaccine development, hoping that Korea helps Saudi Arabia develop its biopharma manufacturing facilities and foster local talent.
 
There were also agreements on green energy, including green hydrogen development, between five Korean companies including Samsung C&T with PIF. Greenhouse ammonia agreements were also made between the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) and Acwa Power.
 
H2Korea, a public-private think tank, mentioned that it is currently in discussions with the Saudi Arabian government to map out mid- to long-term plans on hydrogen energy cooperation, with more MOUs between Korean and Saudi companies expected to be specified sometime next year.

The MOUs were made during a Korean-Saudi In
vestment Forum held between the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Saudi Ministry of Investment on Thursday at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul.
 
In addition to Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang and the Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid A. Al-Falih, some 300 businesses from both countries including Korean leading businesses Samsung C&T and Hyundai Motor attended the business forum.
  
With various MOUs signed Thursday and more coming up, Saudi Arabian businesses said the key to inking deals is prioritizing localization.

Saudi Arabian companies also welcomed any Korean automakers willing to build hydrogen car manufacturing factories in its country.

Source: https://www.marketwatch.com/

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