By Kim Tae-gyu
DAVOS, Switzerland — President Park Geun-hye asked Saudi Arabia's flagship oil company Aramco Wednesday to supply crude oil in a stable manner so that Korea won't have to struggle in securing energy resources.
Park made the request during a meeting with Aramco head Khalid Al-Falih on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, which has just started its four-day run here in the mountain resort in the Eastern Alps region of Switzerland.
"Park and Al-Falih discussed ways of importing crude oil in a secure fashion as Saudi Arabia is the No. 1 supplier to Korea. In 2012, 32.9 percent of oil imports came from Saudi Arabia followed by Kuwait with 15.4 percent," said a Cheong Wa Dae official.
"Park also proposed Aramco's participation in Korea's Northeast Asian oil hub project while encouraging it to select Korean companies for the construction of four oil plants worth $5.9 billion."
With the target of becoming a center of oil distribution in Northeast Asia, Korea has built large-scale commercial oil storage facilities in Yeosu and Ulsan. The one in Yeosu is now commercially operational while the Ulsan facility will be complete in 2020.
Aramco owns S-Oil, the country's third-largest oil refinery.
Park also met other high-profile businessmen including Siemens Chairman Joe Kaesar and Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs to talk about how to underpin economic growth at a time when the world economy is languishing.
In particular, she tried to get insight and institution from them concerning her campaign pledge of a creative economy, an attempt to find new revenue streams via high-tech convergence.
"Park's talks with world-renowned corporate heads are intended to find fresh ways of boosting the economy at a time when the country's growth has slowed," said the official
Late Tuesday, Park met Cisco Systems Chairman John Chambers to express her interest in the so-called Internet of things (IoT), which she regards as a viable technology to realize the creative economy.
"The cooperation between Cisco, which has cutting-edge technology in IoT, and IT powerhouse Korea can come up with win-win situations," Park was quoted as saying. "I hope that the two sides will be able to carry out specific projects in the near future."
Chambers responded positively while revealing his intention to invest in Asia's No. 4 economy.
The IoT is about connecting multiple electronic devices together based on the belief that all objects and people can be computer-tagged so they will dovetail with production, causing no waste and improving efficiency.
Many global research entities expect that IoT will become the norm in the not-so-distant future as the number of devices that are machine-readable will be in the neighborhood of 30 billion by 2020.
The meetings with the CEOs are the final part of her schedule on her first overseas trip this year, which started last week with state visits to India and Switzerland. Park will return home today after wrapping up her nine-day trip.
DAVOS, Switzerland — President Park Geun-hye asked Saudi Arabia's flagship oil company Aramco Wednesday to supply crude oil in a stable manner so that Korea won't have to struggle in securing energy resources.
Park made the request during a meeting with Aramco head Khalid Al-Falih on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, which has just started its four-day run here in the mountain resort in the Eastern Alps region of Switzerland.
"Park and Al-Falih discussed ways of importing crude oil in a secure fashion as Saudi Arabia is the No. 1 supplier to Korea. In 2012, 32.9 percent of oil imports came from Saudi Arabia followed by Kuwait with 15.4 percent," said a Cheong Wa Dae official.
"Park also proposed Aramco's participation in Korea's Northeast Asian oil hub project while encouraging it to select Korean companies for the construction of four oil plants worth $5.9 billion."
With the target of becoming a center of oil distribution in Northeast Asia, Korea has built large-scale commercial oil storage facilities in Yeosu and Ulsan. The one in Yeosu is now commercially operational while the Ulsan facility will be complete in 2020.
Aramco owns S-Oil, the country's third-largest oil refinery.
Park also met other high-profile businessmen including Siemens Chairman Joe Kaesar and Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs to talk about how to underpin economic growth at a time when the world economy is languishing.
In particular, she tried to get insight and institution from them concerning her campaign pledge of a creative economy, an attempt to find new revenue streams via high-tech convergence.
"Park's talks with world-renowned corporate heads are intended to find fresh ways of boosting the economy at a time when the country's growth has slowed," said the official
Late Tuesday, Park met Cisco Systems Chairman John Chambers to express her interest in the so-called Internet of things (IoT), which she regards as a viable technology to realize the creative economy.
"The cooperation between Cisco, which has cutting-edge technology in IoT, and IT powerhouse Korea can come up with win-win situations," Park was quoted as saying. "I hope that the two sides will be able to carry out specific projects in the near future."
Chambers responded positively while revealing his intention to invest in Asia's No. 4 economy.
The IoT is about connecting multiple electronic devices together based on the belief that all objects and people can be computer-tagged so they will dovetail with production, causing no waste and improving efficiency.
Many global research entities expect that IoT will become the norm in the not-so-distant future as the number of devices that are machine-readable will be in the neighborhood of 30 billion by 2020.
The meetings with the CEOs are the final part of her schedule on her first overseas trip this year, which started last week with state visits to India and Switzerland. Park will return home today after wrapping up her nine-day trip.
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