Bilateral Talks with Saudi Arabia
DPM CHOO Has Bilateral Talks with Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister
Deputy Prime Minister Kyungho CHOO had bilateral talks with Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance of Saudi Arabia, in Seoul on March 8 during his visit to Korea to attend a meeting of Saudi Aramco’s board of directors. The talks marked their first meeting since the G20 meeting held in October 2022.
During the meeting, acknowledging that the global economy faces challenges including fragmentation and geopolitical risks, DPM CHOO and Saudi Arabian Minister Al-Jadaan shared insights on current global issues such as energy and food security and low-income countries’ debt restructuring.
DPM CHOO mentioned that Korea has made steadfast efforts to shift to a low-carbon economy and ensure supply chain stabilization and asked for strengthening bilateral cooperation to address the current issues through discussions with major international organizations such as the IMF, the WB and the Paris club.
Moreover, as for the energy and food security sector that Saudi Arabia focuses on under the country’s Vision 2030, DPM CHOO stressed that Korea endeavors to improve the national competitiveness in related sectors including hydrogen and smart farming industries, which may enable the two countries to further enhance bilateral cooperation.
Noting that the two countries have built solid trust as Saudi Arabia is Korea’s biggest oil supplier and overseas construction partner, DPM CHOO asked for Saudi’s close attention so that Korean companies will be able to make inroads into Saudi Arabia through bids for the NEOM city project.
In response, Saudi Arabian Minister Al-Jadaan hoped that Korean companies will be able to join future projects in Saudi Arabia, highly recognizing Korean companies’ excellent technology and construction capability.
Regarding DPM CHOO’s request for stable supply of oil to Korea, Minister Al-Jadaan answered that Saudi Arabia will strive to supply oil in a stable and continuous manner in recognition of the importance of fossil fuel energy.
The two leaders agreed that this meeting allowed them to share views on global issues and seek bilateral cooperation and pledged to actively cooperate with each other going forward.
Please refer to the attached pdf.
