South Korea, UAE to expand economic relations

President Moon Jae-in and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi walk toward the venue of a welcoming event for the crown prince at Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday. The welcoming ceremony was followed by a summit where the two leaders vowed to expand economic cooperation. Yonhap

By Kim Bo-eun

President Moon Jae-in and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi vowed to boost and diversify bilateral economic cooperation, at a summit held at Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday.

The meeting took place on the second day of a two-day official visit to Seoul by the de facto leader of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Crown Prince Mohammed is also the deputy supreme commander of the UAE's Armed Forces.

They spoke about cooperation in the energy, construction and defense industries that have been key to the development of bilateral relations thus far and shared hopes to expand this to other fields, according to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.

“I wish to expand the countries' cooperation to new technologies and new industrial sectors that will prepare the countries for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as 5G, information-communication technology, artificial intelligence, robots, semiconductors, renewable energy and smart farms,” Moon said.

The President referred to the ongoing summit between North Korea and the U.S. in Hanoi and highly evaluated Pope Francis' visit to the UAE earlier this month.

"As the crown prince sent a message of harmony and coexistence to the world, by enabling the visit of a Catholic pope to a country on the Arabian Peninsula for the first time earlier this month, we hope the crown prince's visit to South Korea will spread a spirit of lasting peace and co-prosperity on the Korean Peninsula," Moon said.

Crown Prince Mohammed said "The U.S.-North Korea summit in Vietnam is also a very important event for the UAE, and will hold great significance for the Middle East."

The meeting took place after an official welcoming ceremony was held for the crown prince at Cheong Wa Dae.

After the summit, Moon held a luncheon for the crown prince, which was attended by the chiefs of leading conglomerates including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and GS Group Chairman Huh Chang-soo.

A day earlier, the crown prince visited a Samsung Electronics production facility and attended a dinner reception with Moon at Cheong Wa Dae.

The visit by Crown Prince Mohammed took place after Moon made an official visit to the UAE in March last year. It is the fifth official visit to Korea by the crown prince.