President Moon Jae-in met with Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid A. Al-Falih of Saudi Arabia at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae for 35 minutes from 11:00 this morning.

President Moon noted that Korea and Saudi Arabia have maintained close, cooperative relations on the foundation of solid trust. He expressed the hope that the two countries would continue to work together as partners for forward-looking shared growth.

President Moon said he looked forward to the two countries expanding bilateral cooperation into various additional areas, including industry, healthcare and culture, going beyond conventional sectors of energy and construction, mainly through collaboration for the realization of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia`s long-term economic innovation project. 

Minister Al-Falih expressed his interest in automobiles and nuclear plants. In this connection, he continued that his country hoped to work together with Korea to develop future cars such as electric cars and hydrogen-powered cars and had a strong willingness to invest in the sector. Saying that he wanted to work with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute to develop a small and medium-sized reactor, he added that he hoped to have substantive consultations in that regard.  

Speaking of Saudi Arabia’s plan to build large nuclear power plants, President Moon said Korea had 40 years of rich experience in building and operating nuclear power plants, which had a proven record of the greatest safety and economic feasibility. The President also said Korea could go beyond exporting nuclear power plants to seek opportunities to jointly enter a third country along with Saudi Arabia. 

As the Energy Minister, Al-Falih is in charge of Saudi Arabia’s energy-related industry and institutions, including Saudi Aramco and King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy. He visited Korea for four days beginning on May 3.