Major South Korean companies agreed to expand cooperation with Saudi Arabia beyond energy into emerging industries including artificial intelligence and data centers.
Kim Chang-beom, vice chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, said at the 2026 Korea-Saudi Business Investment Forum held at FKI Tower in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo district on the 6th that the two countries should broaden their partnership on the basis of solid trust between their governments. "Let us expand cooperation into AI, future mobility and bio, as well as energy, advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure," he said. "Cooperation between Korea, with its world-class manufacturing capabilities, and Saudi Arabia, a global energy and investment hub, will be the surest growth engine for both countries."
The forum, co-hosted by the FKI and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), was arranged to explore ways to expand investment and cooperation between companies in the two countries. About 280 people attended, including Shin Sang-ho, president of Kolon (002020), along with officials from POSCO E&C, NAVER, Hyundai Rotem and Korea Aerospace Industries (047810), as well as the PIF delegation and representatives of some 20 Saudi companies.
Shin, who took part in a dialogue session as a representative of Korean companies, said Saudi Arabia is pursuing strong projects backed by vast investment capacity, unlike the situation when Korean firms invested in Vietnam in the late 1980s. "Please entrust Korean companies with Saudi Arabia's various industrial projects, including nuclear power generation and defense," he said.
Abdullah Al-Hussaini, head of strategy and external cooperation at the PIF, responded that Korea possesses world-class capabilities, innovation, technology, capital and expertise, and said Saudi Arabia would offer Korean companies a range of business opportunities on the back of its growing economy.
In the main session, the two sides held pitching sessions to discuss ways to expand cooperation in four areas: special zone development and construction; technology, media and telecommunications and health care; utilities, resources, transportation and logistics; and advanced industries.
POSCO E&C presented its project execution capabilities in urban and mixed-use development and large-scale construction in the special zone development and construction segment.
NAVER Cloud introduced its sovereign AI business under way in Saudi Arabia and its expansion plans in the technology, media and telecommunications and health care session. The company plans to support Saudi Arabia's digital transformation and efforts to secure digital sovereignty through digital twins, map-based super apps, data centers and cloud services.
Hyundai Rotem highlighted its technology and business capabilities in the utilities, resources, transportation and logistics session, while Korea Aerospace Industries did the same in the advanced industries segment.
