SEOUL: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to invest US$30 billion (RM130 billion) in South Korea’s industries, South Korea’s presidential office said on Sunday (Jan 15), as the two countries seek to expand economic cooperation.
The investment decision was announced as South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol met his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi during a four-day state visit, Yoon’s office said.
“We have decided a US$30 billion investment based on the trust on South Korea which keeps promises under any circumstances,” Yoon’s office quoted the UAE president as saying.
Details of the investment plan were not immediately known but Yoon’s press secretary, Kim Eun-hye, said in a statement the investment will be directed at nuclear power, defence, hydrogen and solar energy industries, among others.
Seoul’s finance ministry said the US$30 billion investment would be led by sovereign wealth funds, including Mubadala Investment Company.
At their summit, the two countries also signed 13 memorandums of understanding, including an agreement between the state-run Korea Development Bank and the Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala to cooperate for investment in South Korean companies.
In another development, India and the UAE are close to a “major agreement” on a renewable energy interconnection between the two countries, India’s Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy said on Sunday.
Raj Kumar Singh, who is visiting the Gulf Arab oil producer for the International Renewable Energy Agency’s assembly in Abu Dhabi, of which India is currently president, told Reuters the agreement was awaiting final approvals. He did not elaborate on a time frame.
“There is a major agreement for an interconnection between the UAE electricity grid, and the Indian grid,” Raj Kumar said, adding that this would be under the One Sun, One World, One Grid (Osowog) initiative by a group of countries to create renewable energy networks.
“Both sides have agreed,” he said. “We believe it will come.”
The Osowog initiative, first proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to transfer renewable energy power through connecting grids.
Singh said the UAE has also indicated it would like to invest more in India’s renewable energy projects, including solar and wind.
India and the UAE also signed a memorandum of understanding on Jan 13 on green hydrogen development, produced using renewable energy, India’s embassy in the UAE said on Twitter on Friday.
Last year, the Gulf state concluded a broad trade agreement with India that aims to increase bilateral non-oil trade to US$100 billion in the next five years. – Reuters
