Arab News, Wednesday, Mar 08, 2023 | Sha'ban 16, 1444
Aramco signs $6bn deal to help South Korean companies win contracts in the Kingdom
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Aramco has agreed a $6 billion framework
deal with the Export-Import Bank of Korea that could help South Korean companies
win contracts in the Kingdom.
The three-year deal was signed by Eximbank
Chairman Yoon Hee-Sung and Saudi Aramco Chief Financial Officer Ziad Al-Murshed
in Seoul.
The agreement states that Eximbank can lend up to
$6 billion to Saudi Aramco which can be used to pay South Korean companies
involved in projects with the global energy firm.
"The deal could give a big boost to South Korean
companies in winning contracts in the Middle East," an Eximbank spokesperson
said.
The bank also stated that $1 billion out of the $6
billion is set for hydrogen and renewable energy deals.
The agreement came amid expectations of profitable
business opportunities in the Kingdom and the Middle East following the November
visit to Seoul by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
South Korean companies are seeking to win
construction contracts in Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion giga-project NEOM to
develop eco-friendly cities.
The deal also comes as part of South Korea’s
efforts to create a “second Middle East boom”, as referred to by Yoon Hee-Sung,
that comes as a follow-up of the first Middle East boom where many Koreans sent
home cash by working at construction sites in the region in the 1970s.
Aramco managed to build a strong relationship with
South Korea by dedicating projects in the country and signing agreements with
the Asian country’s companies.
Last month, Aramco signed a memorandum of
understanding for cooperation with South Korea’s Hoban Group to work together in
construction and manufacturing.
Moreover, Aramco announced last year a $7 billion
project in South Korea to produce petrochemicals from crude oil at S-Oil Corp.
The project, named Shaheen, is the Saudi company's
biggest investment in South Korea and will mark the first commercial use of
Aramco and Lummus technology, a leading licensor of proprietary petrochemicals,
to produce chemicals from crude.