Korea-UAE ‘Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement’ signed… Reaffirmation of $30 billion investment
On the 29th, President Yoon Seok-yeol held a summit meeting with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was on a state visit to Korea, and reaffirmed the UAE’s promise to invest $30 billion.
In relation to this, it was confirmed that UAE institutions, including UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, are reviewing investment opportunities worth more than $6 billion in the Korean market through investment cooperation channels.
In addition, the Korea-UAE agreed to conclude the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to strengthen economic partnership between the two countries in comprehensive areas, including trade liberalization and investment expansion.
The UAE is the first time that Korea has signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with an Arab country.
This Korea-UAE summit was concluded with President Mohammed’s return visit about one year and four months after President Yoon paid a state visit to the UAE in January last year.
This is the first state visit by a UAE president in history and the first visit to Korea since President Mohammed took office.
The President’s Office evaluated that President Mohammed’s visit to Korea provided an opportunity to deepen and develop a ‘special strategic partnership’ between the two countries, centering on the special bond between the leaders of the two countries.
Through this summit between President Yoon and President Mohammed, the two countries decided to strengthen cooperation in four key fields: economy and investment, traditional energy and clean energy, peaceful nuclear energy, and national defense and defense technology, as well as advanced technology fields such as AI.
The President’s Office announced that at the summit on this day, the two leaders confirmed the UAE sovereign wealth fund’s ‘$30 billion investment pledge’ and strengthened the trust of the people of the two countries in investment cooperation.
He then explained that UAE institutions, including UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, are currently reviewing investment opportunities worth more than $6 billion in the Korean market through investment cooperation channels.
In addition, the two countries signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding on Investment Cooperation System’ to expand investment cooperation channels and lay the foundation for speeding up the implementation of future investment pledges.
In addition, the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Korea and the UAE has established an institutional foundation to strengthen the economic partnership between the two countries in comprehensive areas, including trade liberalization and investment expansion.
In the traditional energy and clean energy fields, Korean companies are expected to build at least 6 LNG ships (worth approximately $1.5 billion, with additional order options separate) through the signing of a ‘LNG carrier construction letter of intent’ between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation (ADNOC) and Korean companies. We have laid the foundation for receiving orders.
A memorandum of understanding between the two countries was signed to discuss expansion of the joint crude oil storage project and an intergovernmental memorandum of understanding to establish a support system for hydrogen cooperation projects.
In the field of peaceful nuclear energy, based on the successful cooperation between the two countries through the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, they agreed to continue to explore the possibility of cooperation in areas such as follow-up unit construction, nuclear fuel supply chain, and small modular nuclear power plants (SMR).
In the field of defense and defense technology, a consensus was confirmed on the need for long-term and strategic defense and defense industry cooperation, including deepening defense cooperation centered on the ARCH unit and achieving early results in defense industry cooperation under discussion between the two countries.
In addition, in the field of advanced technologies such as AI, we decided to share Korea’s AI development strategy and seek specific ways to strengthen cooperation to promote innovative growth of both countries.
As part of this, we will strengthen corporate partnerships through the Middle East IT Support Center, expand joint R&D through global AI research bases, and promote exchange of excellent talent.
In addition, the two countries agreed to cooperate in areas such as joint expansion into third countries such as energy, infrastructure, and nuclear power plants, small and medium-sized ventures, and intellectual property.
After the summit, the two leaders attended the signing ceremony of 19 agreements, MOUs, and letters of intent, including the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
The President’s Office said that President Mohammed’s visit to Korea, which took place about 1 year and 4 months after the President’s state visit to the UAE in January, served as an opportunity to further solidify the trust and friendship between the leaders of the two countries. Going forward, they will communicate frequently and cooperate closely to develop the relationship between the two countries. He said he had agreed to leave.
Editor James
