Korea and Saudi Arabia Expand Cooperation from Shipbuilding and Automobiles to AI

Moon Sin-hak, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, is taking a commemorative photo before a meeting with Abdullah bin Ali Al-Ahmari, Vice Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, at the Government Complex Seoul on the morning of the 27th. Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

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South Korea and Saudi Arabia have agreed to expand the scope of industrial cooperation beyond key industries such as shipbuilding and automobiles to include future high-tech sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI).

Moon Sin-hak, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, held talks with Abdullah bin Ali Al-Ahmari, Vice Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, at the Government Complex Seoul on the morning of the 27th.

Vice Minister Moon emphasized that Korean companies operating in Saudi Arabia have contributed to the realization of Saudi Arabia's 'Vision 2030,' a strategy for economic diversification in preparation for the post-oil era. He requested continued interest and support from the Saudi side to ensure the smooth implementation of related projects.

In particular, the two sides cited as representative examples the International Maritime Industries shipyard-the largest being built in the Middle East as a joint venture between HD Hyundai and Saudi Aramco-and Hyundai Motor's complete vehicle plant, which is under construction as the first assembly plant in the Middle East within Saudi Arabia. They pledged close government-to-government communication and cooperation to ensure that major projects in key manufacturing sectors such as shipbuilding and automobiles proceed as planned.

Additionally, as a newly adopted cooperation initiative by the committee, the two vice ministers agreed to concretize collaboration among relevant research institutes, companies, and governments for the joint development of eco-friendly ship carbon emission reduction technologies proposed by the Saudi side. Furthermore, they agreed to continue discussions on South Korea's proposal to establish hydrogen refueling stations and implement hydrogen quality management in Saudi Arabia as part of building infrastructure for the spread of hydrogen vehicles.

Moreover, Vice Minister Moon noted that both countries are making focused investments in fostering the AI industry as a future growth engine. He proposed strengthening cooperation not only in AI infrastructure such as semiconductor and data center construction, but also across the broader AI-utilization industries, including digital twins, cloud, and robotics. Vice Minister Al-Ahmari welcomed these proposals and agreed to work toward their realization.

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