South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan met with his United Arab Emirates counterpart Sultan Al Jaber in Seoul on Thursday to discuss expanding cooperation in artificial intelligence and energy sectors. The meeting follows up on the leaders' summit held in Abu Dhabi last November. Both sides agreed to South Korea's involvement in the UAE's Stargate project and to increase joint oil stockpiling for energy stability.
In November, during the leaders' summit in Abu Dhabi, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to collaborate on the UAE's Stargate project, which focuses on building AI computing and cloud infrastructure in the Middle Eastern nation.
On Thursday in Seoul, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan met with UAE Industry Minister Sultan Al Jaber to discuss follow-up measures to this agreement. Kim stated that Seoul could contribute to the project through its strengths in semiconductors, data centers, engineering, and construction, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources. The two sides agreed to broaden energy cooperation, highlighting that bilateral oil and gas trade forms a core pillar of economic ties between South Korea and the UAE.
They also discussed increasing the volume of their joint oil stockpiling program, which has been running for 13 years and has helped stabilize the energy supply chains of both countries, the ministry said.
Separately, Climate Minister Kim Sung-hwan met with Al Jaber the same day to talk about energy cooperation between Seoul and Abu Dhabi. Kim proposed offering South Korea's low-carbon electric power infrastructure technologies, such as power grids and energy storage systems, for the Stargate project, according to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment. They further discussed establishing a joint energy forum to support the international goal of tripling global renewable energy capacity by 2030.
