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President Yoon Attends Korea-Saudi Construction Cooperation 50th Anniversary Ceremony
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During his state visit to Saudi Arabia, President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Korean-Saudi construction companies on the 23rd (local time) and stated, "Building on the solid foundation established between Korea and Saudi Arabia, we must jointly open the future of new infrastructure economic cooperation that responds to technological changes and the demands of the times." On the occasion of President Yoon's state visit, a total of four infrastructure contracts and MOUs (Memoranda of Understanding) were signed between Korean companies and Saudi clients.

That afternoon, President Yoon attended the '50th Anniversary Ceremony of Korea-Saudi Construction Cooperation' (subtitled 'From Al-Ula-Kaiba to NEOM') held at the Riyadh NEOM Exhibition Hall, where discussions were held to strengthen urban and infrastructure cooperation between the two countries.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, on a state visit to Saudi Arabia, delivers a commemorative speech at the 50th anniversary ceremony of Korea-Saudi construction cooperation held at the NEOM Exhibition Hall in Riyadh on the 23rd (local time).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

This event was organized to commemorate 50 years since 1973, when Samhwan Corporation became the first Korean company to win the Al-Ula-Kaiba highway project in Saudi Arabia (approximately 20 million USD), and to present a future vision to expand cooperation into advanced future cities such as NEOM City and digital infrastructure sectors. The event was attended by Saudi officials including Majed bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Hogail, Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing; Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company; Nadmi Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM Company; as well as representatives from Korean construction companies such as Samsung C&T and Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and IT companies including Naver and KT.

Notably, under President Yoon’s presence, contracts were signed for ▲Jafurah 2 Gas Plant Package 2 project (approximately 2.4 billion USD, 3.25 trillion KRW) ▲Digital Twin platform construction and operation ▲Establishment of a joint venture for modular business cooperation MOU ▲Digital infrastructure construction MOU.

The Jafurah 2 Gas Plant Package project contracted this time involves Hyundai Engineering and Hyundai Construction building a plant to refine natural gas in the Jafurah region, the largest shale gas reserve in the Middle East owned by Saudi Aramco. This achievement follows the trust built between the two heads of state since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Korea last November and is another success following the Amiral project (approximately 5 billion USD) contract.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, on a state visit to Saudi Arabia, delivers a commemorative speech at the Korea-Saudi Construction Cooperation 50th Anniversary Ceremony held at the NEOM Exhibition Hall in Riyadh on the 23rd (local time).
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Naver and the Saudi Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing also agreed to jointly build a platform that creates a virtual digital twin identical to the real spaces of five Saudi cities, which can be used for urban planning, management, and flood prediction. This is the first export project of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s 'Digital Platform Government' initiative, marking the first step in expanding Korean construction’s overseas advancement beyond physical infrastructure into digital spaces.

At the event, President Yoon highly praised past cooperation in his 50th anniversary speech, stating, "The efforts of our Korean entrepreneurs and workers are embedded in over 1,900 projects across Saudi Arabia." He added, "Building on the solid foundation established between Korea and Saudi Arabia, we must jointly open the future of new infrastructure economic cooperation that responds to technological changes and the demands of the times," and presented a vision that "if Korea combines its advanced urban construction capabilities with Saudi Arabia’s NEOM City project, the two countries can jointly propose a new model for future cities."

Meanwhile, at the subsequent event, President Yoon toured exhibits including The Line project within the NEOM exhibition hall, guided by NEOM CEO Nadmi Al-Nasr. He then exchanged views with attendees on ways to deepen cooperation between companies from both countries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.