Saudi Gazette report
RIYADH — Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the dialogue session of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the 7th Future Investment Initiative (FII7) forum, which kicked off in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Addressing the event, Yeol emphasized that Saudi Arabia has been able to transform itself into a center for advanced industries. “South Korea shares expertise with Riyadh to achieve a unique experience in a shorter time as part of efforts to realize this strong cooperation,” he said.
The Korean president revealed that the volume of trade exchange between South Korea and the Kingdom has reached about $29 billion in the fields of energy, defense, and infrastructure construction.
Yeol said that during his current visit to Saudi Arabia, he had the opportunity to deepen his understanding about the Kingdom’s projects, noting that he has a feeling of passion for the NEOM project. The president described his visit to Saudi Arabia as an important task to strengthen solidarity with the Kingdom to achieve common progress. “The Korean companies have been able to participate in the construction of the Kingdom’s infrastructure over the past 60 years. It has established trust and participated in accelerating industries to achieve cooperation between the two countries,” he said.
The South Korean president stated that the Saudi Vision 2030 represents a national transformation and that his country is considered as the most important partner for the success of Riyadh’s aspirations in several aspects, including economic, cultural and information technology, in addition to the Kingdom’s ambition to reach carbon neutrality and the movement related to climate change. He stressed that Seoul will strengthen its investments in those sectors in accordance with the Kingdom’s plans.
Yeol underscored the importance of enhancing cooperation and facilitating travel, in addition to learning about the cultures of the two peoples through study programs and scholarships programs to complete higher studies and undertake exchange in the fields of research, innovation and sciences. He unveiled Korea’s plans to operate and open programs and institutes to teach the Korean language in Saudi Arabia.
The South Korean president added that Saudi Arabia was one of the first countries to trust Seoul’s capabilities and that there will be more technical exchanges between the two countries in the coming period. “The economic cooperation is usually driven by relations between businessmen and companies,” he said while stressing the necessity of working towards increasing rapprochement and providing all facilities.
Around 6,000 participants from more than 90 countries and 500 local and international speakers from different sectors are attending the three day FII7 forum with the theme of “The New Compass”, which is being held at the King Abdulaziz International Center for Conferences.
