Saudi Aramco has signed a $6 billion framework deal with the Export-Import Bank of Korea that could help South Korean companies win contracts in the Kingdom.
According to the agreement, Eximbank can lend up to $6 billion to Saudi Aramco which can be used to pay South Korean companies involved in projects with the energy giant.
“The deal could give a big boost to South Korean companies in winning contracts in the Middle East,” Arab News reported an Eximbank spokesperson as saying.
The bank also stated that $1 billion out of the $6 billion is set for hydrogen and renewable energy deals.
South Korean companies are seeking to win construction contracts in Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion giga-project NEOM to develop eco-friendly cities.
Last month, Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation with South Korea’s Hoban Group to work together in construction and manufacturing.
Moreover, Aramco announced last year a $7 billion project in South Korea to produce petrochemicals from crude oil at S-Oil Corp.
The project, named Shaheen, is the Saudi company’s biggest investment in South Korea and will mark the first commercial use of Aramco and Lummus technology, a leading licensor of proprietary petrochemicals, to produce chemicals from crude.