The UAE and South Korea have held a series of high-level meetings with government and business leaders to strengthen bilateral ties and drive opportunities for low-carbon economic growth.

During the two-day official visit, which concluded on Wednesday, Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, the UAE’s Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Special Envoy for Climate Change held bilateral meetings with senior Korean government officials, including Park Jin, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy; and Han Wha-jin, Minister of Environment, as well as Ban Ki-Moon, former UN Secretary-General, reported Emirates News Agency WAM.

Dr Al Jaber conveyed the greetings of the UAE's leadership to the government and people of South Korea and highlighted the UAE's desire to strengthen its special strategic partnership with South Korea across multiple strategic areas, including industry, traditional and new energies, decarbonisation and climate solutions.

Dr Al Jaber expressed the UAE's appreciation for South Korea's backing during the UAE's bid to host COP28 (28th Session of the Conference of the Parties) and reaffirmed the UAE's support for the Republic of Korea's offer to host COP33 in 2028.

He reinforced the UAE's commitment to ensuring reliable crude oil supplies, petrochemicals and refined products to South Korea.

Dr Al Jaber said: "The UAE places great importance on its strategic relationship with the Republic of Korea. For over 40 years, the UAE has been a reliable strategic business and energy partner to the Republic of Korea, and we are working to deepen our ties across the energy and industrial value chain, to seize the economic opportunities of the energy transition and drive progressive climate action for the economic benefit of both our peoples, in line with the UAE leadership's wise directives."

As part of his visit, Dr. Al Jaber also held meetings with leading Korean business executives, including Yongsoo Huh, President and CEO, GS Energy; Sae-Hong Hur, President and CEO, GS Caltex; Seung-il Chung, President and CEO, Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco); Dong-Sub Kim, President and CEO, Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC); Hee-Bong Chae, President and CEO, Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS); Sungan Choi, President and CEO, Samsung Engineering; Se-Chul Oh, President and CEO, Samsung C&T; and Kyung-Il Park, CEO, SK Ecoplant.

The government and private sector meetings focused on industrial cooperation, hydrogen, decarbonisation, climate solutions and COP28 (28th Session of the Conference of the Parties). The meetings also covered opportunities in Abu Dhabi's upstream, refining and petrochemical sectors as well as in the TA'ZIZ Industrial Chemicals Zone in Ruwais.

Dr Al Jaber highlighted the huge potential for collaboration between the UAE and South Korea to harness renewable energy and new commercially feasible technologies to advance climate action. In this regard, Masdar, Abu Dhabi's renewable energy company, and Kepco signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly assess opportunities in offshore wind energy.

Under the agreement, the two companies will explore the potential to collaborate in offshore wind projects, including but not limited to Kepco's current and pipeline offshore wind projects and Masdar's global renewable projects. They will also evaluate opportunities in green hydrogen production, battery storage technology and energy trading activities.

In recent years, the UAE and South Korea's partnerships have focused on strategically important sectors, including hydrocarbons, renewables, nuclear energy, healthcare and logistics. Prominent projects include the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi as well as Abu Dhabi's upstream concessions.