Kang Hoon-sik Meets Qatar Trade Minister to Expand Investment Cooperation in AI, Other High-Tech Sectors

Kang Hoon-sik, the president’s chief of staff, met with Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Sayed to discuss ways to expand investment cooperation in advanced industries.

Kang disclosed the meeting in a Facebook post on April 29, saying the two sides agreed to broaden ties beyond natural gas trade and orders for liquefied natural gas carriers to investment cooperation in high-tech sectors such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and biotechnology.

Kang previously visited Qatar on April 13 as the president’s special envoy for strategic economic cooperation, meeting with Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation.

Kang said he told the emir it was time to extend cooperation centered on energy into investment in advanced industries such as AI, and that the emir promised to send a delegation promptly.

“Indeed, within two weeks, a large delegation led by Minister of State Al Sayed visited South Korea,” Kang wrote, adding it included officials from Qatar’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and the sovereign wealth fund.

Kang said Al Sayed is also a leading investment expert who previously served as CEO of the Qatar sovereign wealth fund, which he described as the world’s eighth-largest by assets and managing $580 billion.

Kang said Al Sayed thanked the South Korean government for arranging meetings with many advanced-technology companies during the visit, saying it is most important to meet companies directly when making investment decisions.

Kang said he told Al Sayed to contact him at any time and that he would move first to resolve any difficulties related to investment in South Korea.

Kang said investment fund officials traveling with the Qatari delegation were holding detailed talks with potential investee companies, and he expressed hope that “win-win” investment cooperation cases would emerge soon.