Business organizations in the UAE have identified about $2 billion worth of investment opportunities in South Korea, spanning various sectors from energy to culture, the East Asian country’s Yonhap News Agency (YNA) reported Monday, citing Seoul’s finance ministry.
The review came after South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol visited Abu Dhabi in January, where he met with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. During the visit, the Gulf state pledged to invest up to $30 billion in South Korea and explore business opportunities.
Communication, agriculture, technology, aerospace, and K-culture were the other areas of interest for investment, YNA said, citing a joint statement released by South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, Korea Development Bank (KDB), and UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.
Mubadala and KDB also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up the Korea Sovereign Investment partnership, which will serve as the mechanism for coordinating the UAE’s collective investment in Korea.
Support for startups The large-scale funds will reach prominent startups and venture companies, South Korea's finance ministry said, adding that the investment will help the businesses grow to the next level.
In March, the UAE foreign trade ministry said non-oil trade between the UAE and South Korea climbed 14% to $5.3 billion (AED 19.5 billion) in 2022, while the UAE exports to South Korea saw a 17.5% surge last year, as the two countries work closely to raise their trade and investment partnership.
In November last year, South Korea signed investment agreements with Saudi Arabia worth $30 billion to bolster ties in the fields of energy, defense industry, and building projects.
Yoon said he hoped to see companies in South Korea participate in Saudi Arabian projects like the NEOM smart city. The kingdom’s companies and the government signed 26 MoUs with their South Korean counterparts, Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy said.
Among the deals signed, Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) and four other Korean companies inked an MoU with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to build and operate a hydrogen and ammonia project with a capital expenditure of $6.5 billion in the kingdom, Reuters reported.
