Saudi Gazette report

Seoul, South Korea – The Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) announced the signing of 15 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and agreements with South Korean investors.

Two new licenses were also awarded to South Korean businesses, permitting them to establish operations in the Kingdom.

These deals highlight the value and diversity of opportunities being created by Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan, as well as the growing interest from public and private sector entities from across the globe to invest in the Kingdom.

Spanning a number of strategic sectors including finance, media, manufacturing, construction and petrochemicals – these agreements involve a number of leading South Korean firms.

Ibrahim Al-Omar, Governor of SAGIA, said: “Businesses from Saudi Arabia and South Korea have a strong track record of working together, and there are significant opportunities for further growth. The relationship between our two countries is a winning proposition for both sides. Saudi Arabia benefits from South Korean businesses’ expertise and investment, while South Korean companies are able to tap into a dynamic G20 economy with strong market fundamentals across a number of strategic sectors. These partnerships are essential for unlocking innovation and opportunities, while transferring valuable skills and creating jobs for young Saudi men and women. We look forward to welcoming these companies to the Kingdom and we hope many more will follow.”

The announcements follow the Saudi-South Korean Partnership Convention, held today (26 June 2019), in Seoul. The event brought together more than 200 participants, including high-ranking government officials, investors and business leaders for a series of open discussions, presentations, sectorial workshops and bilateral meetings.

The Saudi-South Korean Partnership Convention is a key step in implementing the Saudi-Korean Vision 2030 plan, a cooperation agreement signed between the two countries in 2017. The plan is designed to diversify the scope of collaboration between these two countries, with a focus on energy and manufacturing, smart infrastructure and digitization, capacity building, healthcare and life sciences, and small and medium sized enterprises and investments

Agreements exchanged at the Convention include:

1. The National Command Center for Clinical Trials agreement between Korea National Enterprise for Clinical Trials, Seoul National University Hospital, and the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs /King Abdullah International Medical Research Center

2. An Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare agreement between Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, and the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs /King Abdullah International Medical Research Center

3. A Research & Development and Manufacturing of Biosimilars agreement between Samsung Bioepis and the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs /King Abdullah International Medical Research Center

4. A Genomics and Precision Medicine for Diagnosis and Therapeutics agreement between GENINUS, Inc and the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs /King Abdullah International Medical Research Center

5. A Technical Cooperation for SME Banking agreement between the Industrial Bank of Korea and Saudi Arabia’s SMEA

6. An agreement to conduct a Feasibility Study of Additional MPE Plants using Nexlene Technology between SK Global Chemical and Saudi Arabia’s SABIC

7. A PDH-PP Project agreement between SK Gas Co, Ltd and SABIC

8. A PP Compounding Project between SK Gas Co, Ltd and Advanced Global Investment Company

9. A Mixed Feed Cracker Study between SK Gas Co, Ltd and Advanced Global Investment Company

10. A Cooperation Agreement in the Field of Recycling between BLOOMX and Avin Riyadh Trading Establishment

11. A Cooperation Agreement in the Field of Money Transfer between BLOOMX and Avin Riyadh Trading Establishment

12. A Cooperation Agreement in the Solar Energy Sector between BLOOMX and Avin Riyadh Trading Establishment

13. A Media Cooperation Agreement between MINORITY and MAG Production

14. A Partnership to Manufacture Industrial Values between PK Valve Co, Ltd and Saudi Valve Manufacturing Company

15. A Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science

Since 2016, the Saudi Arabian government has delivered 45% of over 500 planned reforms, including the introduction of 100% foreign ownership rights, enhancing legal infrastructure and offering greater protection for shareholders. As a result, Saudi Arabia is climbing international competitiveness and ease-of-doing-business rankings and investors are increasingly towards to the Kingdom, with FDI inflows increasing by 127% in 2018 and the number of new companies entering Saudi Arabia rose 70% on a year-on-year basis in Q1 2019.