UAE awards Dh75bn nuclear contracts

President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and visiting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak yesterday attended the signing of a series of landmark co-operation agreements worth Dh75 billion between the UAE and South Korea.

The contract between Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) and a consortium of South Korean and US companies led by Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) is for design, build, operate and maintenance of four civil nuclear power plants for the UAE's peaceful nuclear energy plan.

Present at the event were Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President's Representative, and General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The joint co-operation agreements were signed by Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and South Korea Minister of Knowledge Economy Choi Kyung-hwan.

The deals cover a framework protocol for boosting economic partnership to further strengthen bilateral co-operation. Under the agreement, the two countries will set up a higher committee and a number of sub-committees to facilitate co-operation in such diverse fields as peaceful nuclear energy, renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainability, information technology and communications, semi-conductors, shipbuilding and human resources development.

Towards enforcing the framework agreement, the two sides also sealed three complementary agreements including a memorandum of understanding between Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy for facilitating joint co-operation in renewable energy.

A multi-lateral agreement on education and human resources development was signed between Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (Kustar) and Institute of Applied Technology and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Korea Electric Power Corporation, Human Resources Development Service of Korea and Korea Development Institute.

The Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre and Korea Development Institute reached an agreement for exchange of information and communications technology. In a statement after the ceremony, Sheikh Khalifa said relations between the UAE and South Korea were progressing steadily and hoped these new agreements would make a qualitative leap in ties between the two nations.

"Our relationship with South Korea, which has seen sustained growth in recent years, has ushered in a new era of strategic partnership, which will serve the interests of the two countries," he said.

Myung-bak said he was grateful to the UAE for awarding the multibillion contract to the consortium of South Korean companies and for forging strategic partnership with his country.

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