Minister Joo Hyung-hwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy shakes hands with visiting Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, in the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on July.

MOTIE Minister Joo and his counterpart Khalid Al-Falih discuss ways of expanding economic cooperation between Korea and Saudi Arabia, leading their officials. (Photos: MOTIE)

Minister Joo Hyung-hwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) met with visiting Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, in the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on July 1 and discussed ways of expanding economic cooperation between the two countries. 

In May, Khalid Al-Falih was appointed to be the minister of the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, which integrated the Petroleum Ministry and such functions as nurturing industries and electricity.

Minister Joo said bilateral cooperation and exchanges between Korea and Saudi Arabia are getting brisker. Minister Khalid Al-Falih is on a trip to Korea following President Park Geun-hye’s visit in March and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn’s trip to the Middle Eastern country in May. 

Korea depends on Saudi Arabia for 30 percent of its crude oil imports, and Saudi Arabia is Korea’s biggest trading partner in the Middle East, Joo said. Saudi Arabia, which accounts for 16 percent of the world’s total crude oil deposits, takes up a 13 percent share of the global total crude oil production. Korea imported crude oil worth $16.41 billion from Saudi Arabia last year.

Minister Joo cited as examples of bilateral investment and collaboration efforts by Aramco’s refinery upgrading project of S-Oil, shipbuilding cooperation between Hyundai Heavy Industries and Aramco, and by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund in POSCO E&C. In particular, S-Oil plans to invest 5 trillion won by April 2018 to implement the refinery upgrade project. 

Based on the trust the two countries have built in the conventional petroleum and plant engineering sectors for the past 50 years, the ministers discussed ways of expanding and strengthening bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding, petrochemicals and new energy industries. 

Even though Korea’s mainstay industries suffer difficulties due to such external conditions as the sagging global economy, the nation owns the world’s top competitive edge in such areas as shipbuilding, petrochemicals and steel-making, said Minister Joo, adding that he expressed hope the two countries will expand bilateral cooperation and investments in the course of implementing Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, a long-term blueprint aiming at industrial diversification from an oil-dependent economy. 

In April, Saudi Arabia unveiled a vision designed to resurrect its economy, calling for the initial public offering of Saudi Aramco, raising the Public Investment Fund to diversify its industries, and expanding overseas investments. 

Meanwhile, the MOTIE plans to hold the first Korea-Saudi Arabia Investment Cooperation Committee Meeting in Seoul in the second half of the year to explore bilateral investment opportunities and strengthen bilateral cooperation. 

Hyundai Heavy Industries’s (HHI) joint project to build a ship engine plant and a shipyard with Arambo is likely to get a boost as Minister Al-Falih met with HHI’s executives, including Chairman Choi Kil-sun, President Kwon Oh-kap and Executive Vice President Chung Ki-sun, head of HHI Ship & Marine Business Division, in Seoul on July 1. The Saudi minister reportedly discussed a joint project between HHI and Aramco. Aramco vice presidents also participated in the meeting.