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SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Yonhap) — South Korean business leaders are set to meet Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Seoul on Thursday afternoon to discuss business cooperation, including the construction of a futuristic mega city.
Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Hyundai Motor Group’s Chairman Euisun Chung are among the South Korean business leaders scheduled to have a meeting with the crown prince at a hotel in downtown Seoul.
South Korean companies are seeking to participate and win construction deals in Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion project, known as Neom, to build an automated, sustainable city, operated by robots and powered by solar energy, in the kingdom’s northwest province of Tabuk.
The project was unveiled by the crown prince during an investment conference in Riyadh in 2017.
Mohammed bin Salman, known as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, arrived in Seoul early Thursday. He is expected to leave the country late in the day.
His first — and the last — visit to the country was in June 2019, when he also met South Korean business tycoons, including Samsung’s Lee.
The Saudi crown prince has been pushing to reshape the country’s economy under the Vision 2030 initiative, to which the Neom project belongs, by moving beyond oil and boosting foreign investment and tourism.
In June, the consortium of Samsung C&T Corp., the construction unit of Samsung Group, and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., won a part of the drill and blast tunneling contract of the Neom project.
While the exact amount of the contract was not made public, it was considered one of the world’s largest transportation and utility infrastructure projects.
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) talks with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo after arriving at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, around 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 17, 2022, in this photo released by the Prime Minister’s Office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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(YONHAP NEWS)