Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Korea have issued a joint communique on the occasion of the official visit of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to the East Asian country. Following is the text of the communique: At the invitation of President Moon Jae-in and inspired by the interest of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the Korean leader to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, made an official visit to the Republic of Korea on June 26-27. He was received at the airport by Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon. President Moon held in-depth discussions with Prince Muhammad on the future of bilateral relations, in addition to regional and international issues. They agreed to expand the areas of cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Korea in all aspects. Vision 2030 partnerships 1. In view of the importance of the strategic partnership which has first developed through the energy and infrastructure zone since the establishment of diplomatic relations between their two countries in 1962, President Moon and Crown Prince Muhammad expressed satisfaction over expanding bilateral cooperation to cover all fields, including healthcare, medical services, communication and information technologies, culture and education as per the Kingdom's Vision 2030. 2. President Moon affirmed the support of the Korean government for the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which is proceeding under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. The two sides recognize the existence of a joint interest to enhance the Kingdom's Vision 2030 partnerships through the Saudi-Korean Vision 2030 Committee. They also agreed to expedite the pace of cooperation to achieve that vision through efforts that include establishing the Seoul-Riyadh Vision Achievement Office. New economy 3. The two sides agreed to diversify and expand bilateral cooperation in the field of new industries, which meet the requirements of the 4th industrial revolution era. In particular, they agreed that the two states will exert joint efforts to create job opportunities for the youths in the two countries, topped by futuristic and modern industries including environment-friendly automobiles, robot industries, information technology, communications, and 5th generation technologies. In light of this, the two sides welcomed the signing of a number of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and agreements of executive programs during the visit, including an MoU on cooperation in the fields of cars, an agreement of an executive program in the field of robot industry, an MoU in the field of information and communication technology and an MoU dealing with cooperation in the field of hydrogen economy. 4. The two sides expressed hope to augment cooperation expansion in the field of peaceful usage of nuclear energy as the Kingdom has welcomed the participation of Korean companies in a bid for the first Saudi commercial nuclear energy generation station. The two sides also underscored the importance of continuing cooperation and building of human capacities in the fields of research, nuclear advancement and organizational areas. Expanding investment 5. The two sides agreed to exert efforts to increase mutual investment by expanding investments that benefit the two sides, taking into consideration the required capabilities to expand mutual investment, reflecting the level of economic cooperation and the size of trade between the two countries. They also agreed to work together to make the Kingdom's mega projects such as the Red Sea Project, NEOM and Qiddiya Entertainment Project a big success. 6. Crown Prince Muhammad and President Moon lauded the expansion of the S-Oil company project and co-inaugurated the expanded project in which as much as $4.2 billion was invested to enhance the company's profitability and competitiveness. The two sides welcomed the company's focus for the coming period, which is oriented toward increasing the production of petrochemicals and investing in a new technology developed by Saudi Aramco for transforming thermal crude into chemicals. The size of the investment touches nearly $6 billion. 7. President Moon lauded the Saudi interest in investing in Korea, particularly in the fields of energy, refining and petrochemicals, which recently resulted in Saudi Aramco's investment in Hyundai Oil Bank. Saudi Aramco was seeking to expand the scope of its activities, particularly in the field of petrochemicals, and the project reflected the two countries' interest in expanding joint investments. 8. Prince Muhammad lauded the increase in the volume of Korean investments and the number of companies related to Saudi Arabia. He noted the Korean companies' contribution to the giant projects of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, citing Hyundai for Heavy Industries contribution to King Salman Global Complex for Maritime Industries and Services in Ras Al-Khair, and the contribution of the Korean Electricity for Energy in the basic energy project in the Kingdom. Reliable friends for the future 9. Not only for economic development but also to enhance the quality of life for their peoples as national objectives, the two G20 member states agreed to expand cooperation in the field of public services, including healthcare, medical services, e-government services, statistics, and patent for invention, and signed a number of MoUs, including those on the national strategy program for intellectual property, on cooperation in the field of health insurance, on cooperation in the field of e-government, and on mutual cooperation in the field of control of financial institutions. They also agreed on continuing the enhancement of cooperation in the fields of defense, diplomatic affairs and defense industries, as both sides underscore the importance of peacekeeping, security and stability of the two countries. 10. The Kingdom, in its capacity as the world's most reliable source of energy, affirmed its commitment to seek the continuation of the flow of oil supplies to international markets and agreed to meet Korea's increasing needs of crude oil and petroleum products in particular and compensate any shortage that might arise due to other supply cuts. Cultural exchange 11. The two sides affirmed the importance of people-to-people communication to further consolidate the bases of sustainable cooperation. They agreed on the importance of expanding joint exchanges among peoples and cultures to overpass the current bilateral relations based on economic cooperation. In particular, the two sides expressed hope that the agreements they have reached during this visit could contribute to enhancing cultural and popular exchanges, and build bases for cooperation that would continue affecting the coming generations. In this respect, they cited MoUs on cooperation in the fields of culture, tourism, sports, social protection, human resources management and civil service. The two sides also welcomed the MoU on facilitating visit visas for citizens, which went into force last February. They are also looking forward to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the private sector and the peoples of the two countries through the system of Permanent Premium Residency recently announced by Saudi Arabia. 12. The two sides agreed to expand the domain of bilateral exchange opportunities among the youths of the two countries as youth capacity building is a key field of bilateral cooperation. They also agreed to work together closely in the field of education and expanding cooperation among academic institutions in both countries. They agreed to enhance academic scholarships exchange, educational opportunities, student visits encouragement, translation of distinguished scientific and arts materials and publishing them in scientific journals. Regional peace and stability 13. The two sides paid tribute to the progress reached in the Korean Peninsula peace process as well as the efforts being exerted by the Republic of Korea for reconciliation, confidence-building and total elimination of nuclear weapons to achieve permanent peace on the peninsula and, thus, contribute to the world security and peace. In this regard, Crown Prince Muhammad lauded the efforts being exerted by President Moon. He welcomed the Panmunjom Declaration and Pyongyang Declaration co-issued by the presidents of the two Koreas, which would no doubt contribute to achieving peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and the world at large. 14. Crown Prince Muhammad and President Moon discussed the world community's efforts to combat extremism and terrorism and agreed that terror is an international issue that is not related to a certain nationality, country, or religion. They denounced in the strongest words all forms of terrorism. In this regard, President Moon lauded the effective role and leadership of Saudi Arabia in providing support for finding political solutions to disputes in the Middle East. The two sides condemned the Houthi missile attacks on Saudi airports, endangering the lives of civilians as well as a host of attacks against oil tankers, which threatened secure energy supplies and stability in the region. The two sides called on the world community to take firm measures to protect the freedom of navigation in the Arabian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz as well as all international waters to guarantee uninterrupted energy supply. 15. Crown Prince Muhammad and President Moon pointed to the stalemate in the Palestinian peace process and demanded that the world community revive the peace process according to the Arab Peace Initiative and international resolutions that support the efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution. 16. The two sides emphasized the importance of finding a political solution in Yemen based on the UN Security Council resolution No. 2216 of 2015, the GCC Initiative and its executive mechanism, the outcomes of the Yemeni national dialogue, and the Stockholm arrangement. They also emphasized the importance of productively dealing with the UN envoy to Yemen to expedite implementing the Stockholm arrangement and eliminate all obstacles before the work of relief agencies and humanitarian organizations. The two sides confirmed support for the legitimate Yemeni government and its institutions to contribute to restoration of security and stability in Yemen and preserve its unity, independence and integrity of its territories. 17. The two sides are gearing forward to see a political solution to the Syrian crisis according to the principles set by the Geneva Statement of June 30, 2012, and joint statements regarding the outcomes of talks of multilateral parties on Syria, held in Vienna on October 30, 2015, in addition to the International Group to Support Syria on November 14, 2015 and the Security Council resolution No. 2254 of 2015 to end the Syrian people's suffering and preserve their unity and territorial integrity. 18. In their capacity as representatives of their respective sides, Crown Prince Muhammad and President Moon agreed to seek successful implementation of all resolutions agreed upon during the visit to enhance the current contact channels, such as the Saudi-Korea joint committee, the Saudi-Korea Vision 2030 committee, in addition to enhancing cooperation in the field of defense at the deputy ministers level through the cooperation committee which was established this year. 19. The two sides signed 14 memorandums of understanding between the two governments in the field of communication and information technologies, e-government and automobiles, hydrogen economy, medical insurance, culture, intellectual property rights, military purchases, cooperation among think tanks in the field of economy, financial institutions, tourism and sports. 20. Crown Prince Muhammad expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality accorded by President Moon during the Saudi delegation's stay in Korea. He extended an invitation to President Moon to visit the Kingdom at a mutually convenient time. They agreed to hold numerous meetings to discuss ways of promoting the strategic partnership, which brings together the two countries. – SPA
