Saudi Arabia and South Korea agreed to work closely on joint industrial projects including Vision 2030 that aims to make the Kingdom a pioneering global model of excellence.

To strengthen the bilateral ties South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Joo Hyung-Hwan was in the Kingdom and met several ministers and senior officials, Korean ambassador to Saudi Arabia Pyung-oh Kwon told Arab News on Wednesday.

He said the minister held discussions with Khaled Al-Faleh, minister of energy, industry and mineral resources; Majed Al-Qassabi, commerce and investment minister, and Adel Fakeih, minister of economy and planning, before winding up the trip today.

They reviewed bilateral relations in the industry and energy sector as well as partnership among the Saudi and Korean businessmen and companies.

“They agreed to further enhance multi-sectorial cooperation on various projects including joint industrial projects and the Korean minister assured of full cooperation on Vision 2030 and stressed readiness to enhance cooperation and active participation in achieving the Kingdom’s ambition,” said the envoy.

“Al-Faleh has directed to form various committees at the ministry to work with the Korean side in order to define the opportunities of cooperation between the two countries,” he added.

He also referred to the recent visit by the minister of economy and planning to South Korea during which he proposed around 50 joint cooperation projects on business-to-business and government-to-government basis.

They also agreed on a governance agency to monitor and facilitate cooperation, he added.

Joo and his accompanying delegation also visited the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) here and met Center’s President Nadhmi Al-Nasr, senior managers and researchers.

During the visit, the minister was briefed on KAPSARC’s vision and development of research into energy economics, policy, technology and the environment across all types of energy. The two sides discussed the bilateral relationship between KAPSARC and Korean research centers, and the need to transfer the energy economics-related knowledge to the Kingdom.

KAPSARC currently works on a number of joint research and study projects with leading Korean institutes. These include a joint research program with the Korean Energy Economics Institute focusing on the security and future of clean energy involving several Saudi researchers.

The ambassador also said the Korean government is keen to resume GCC-South Korea dialogue, which was started at the end of 2008, it was discussed during the visit.

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and South Korea signed an MoU in 2014 to hold regular “strategic dialogue” giving new dimension to GCC-Korean relations.