South Korea discusses AI, energy partnership with UAE

Seoul, Dec 18 South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan met with his United Arab Emirates (UAE) counterpart on Thursday to discuss expanding cooperation in the artificial intelligence (AI) and energy sectors, Kim's office said.

Kim met with the UAE Industry Minister Sultan Al Jaber in Seoul to discuss follow-up measures to the leaders' summit between the two countries held in Abu Dhabi in November, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, reports Yonhap news agency.

During the summit, Korean President Lee Jae Myung and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan agreed to join hands for the UAE's Stargate project, centred on establishing AI computing and cloud infrastructure in the Middle Eastern nation.

Kim said Seoul can play a role in the project with its capabilities in the semiconductor, data centre, engineering and construction sectors, according to the ministry.

The two sides agreed to expand cooperation in the energy sector, noting that the bilateral trade of oil and gas is a core pillar of economic cooperation between Korea and the UAE.

The ministers also discussed expanding the joint oil stockpiling volume between the countries, noting the 13-year-old project has contributed to stabilising the two nations' energy supply chain, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Climate Minister Kim Sung-hwan also met with Al Jaber on Thursday to discuss energy cooperation between Seoul and Abu Dhabi.

In the meeting, Kim proposed providing Korea's low-carbon electric power infrastructure technologies, such as power grids and energy storage systems, for UAE's Stargate project, according to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment.

They also discussed creating a joint energy forum as part of efforts to help the international community achieve its goal of tripling the global renewable energy capacity by 2030, the ministry said.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor