Riyadh – On the occasion of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to Saudi Arabia, the two nations will sign a total of 51 agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) valued at US$15.6 billion, according to Yoon's office.
According to a new release by Yonhap News Agency, most of the agreements were formalized during a bilateral investment forum and following a summit between President Yoon and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The remaining deals are scheduled to be signed during a ceremony on Monday that marks 50 years of construction cooperation between South Korea and Saudi Arabia. The agreements span a variety of sectors such as crude oil, hydrogen energy, statistics, food, and medical products.
One key contract is between Korea National Oil Corp. and Saudi Arabia's Saudi Aramco to establish a joint crude oil reserve of 5.3 million barrels at a storage facility in Ulsan, South Korea, by 2028. Under the terms of this contract, South Korea will have priority purchasing rights in supply and demand emergencies and will earn rent over a five-year lease period.
Another significant deal involves Hyundai Motors and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund committing to invest approximately $400 million for the construction of a car assembly plant in King Abdullah Economic City, Makkah Province. The plant is planned to produce 50,000 electric and gas-powered vehicles per year starting in 2026, making it South Korea’s first electric vehicle production facility in the Middle East and a gateway to the broader Middle Eastern and North African markets.
In a speech at the investment forum, President Yoon highlighted the historical ties between the two nations, marking 50 years since South Korean firms entered the Middle Eastern market by securing contracts to build highways in Saudi Arabia. He emphasized the potential for strong synergies if South Korea, with its advanced technologies, collaborates with Saudi Arabia, known for its abundant capital and growth prospects.
Both governments also agreed to a "hydrogen oasis cooperation initiative," aimed at creating working groups for each stage of the hydrogen "value chain," from production to distribution and utilization, to systematically support related business projects between the two countries.
The agreements come on top of the $29 billion in MOUs and contracts signed during Crown Prince Mohammed's visit to Seoul last November. More than 60% of those projects have shown tangible results, including the groundbreaking of the "Shaheen" petrochemical plant in Ulsan and a $160 million joint venture capital fund.
President Yoon is also expected to seek Crown Prince Mohammed's support for South Korean companies bidding for $25 billion of the $500 billion worth of projects related to Neom, an initiative focused on the development of eco-friendly and smart cities in Saudi Arabia’s northwestern Tabuk Province.