Korea and UAE to kick energy and tech cooperation into high gear

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Chang-yang met with Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology of UAE and CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) at the Lotte Hotel Seoul on June 8 to discuss industrial technology and energy supply chain cooperation.

The two industry chiefs agreed to expand economic cooperation onto new industries like digital transition, e-learning and bio based on the recent joint accomplishments, including the Barakah power plant, oilfield development and energy infrastructure construction. Moreover, they plan to actively collaborate on UAE's 50^th national foundation anniversary project, and UAE called for Korean companies' active participation in digital transformation, personal information protection and bio.

Cooperation in the seven subdivisions according to the Korea-UAE Industrial Technology Cooperation MOU signed in March 2021 is to be fully set in motion, and the 1st Ministerial Strategy Meeting is to be held at the end of this year. The seven subdivisions are smart manufacturing, robot, small satellite, drone, bio, digital transformation and e-learning.

Minister Lee stressed the importance of global energy supply chain resilience amid surging oil prices, and requested that UAE provide Korea with a stable supply of oil and gas under their Special Strategic Partnership. In addition, they agreed on the critical role of clean energy in achieving carbon neutrality and energy transition.

Synergy is potentially great in hydrogen and renewable energy, since Korea has high potential demand for hydrogen, whereas UAE has large hydrogen production capacity. Cooperation throughout the entire hydrogen cycle of production-generation-utilization will also be great for creating business opportunities for corporations.

Minister Lee called for special attention from Minister Al-Jaber on the hydrogen bus project where Korean companies can participate and display their experience in hydrogen mobility. The hydrogen bus project is an important project for UAE as it is gearing up for the COP28 international climate summit to be held in 2023.