Nov 19, 2020The third meeting of the High-Level Consultations Committee on Nuclear Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has convened.
The meeting was chaired by H.E. Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the UAE and H.E. Lee Taeho, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea and attended by the senior leadership teams of the key nuclear energy stakeholders in the UAE and Korea.
In line with the special strategic partnership between the UAE and Korea, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2020, the high-level committee was established in 2018 to expand and deepen bilateral nuclear energy cooperation as part of the agreement signed for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Today’s meetings aimed to review the milestones achieved in nuclear energy cooperation over the past two years, as well as discuss future opportunities for joint projects. There has been many key milestones achieved during the past two years, including the Emirates Nuclear Technology Center for Research and Development, which was inaugurated in November 2019.
H.E. Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure of the UAE said in his opening remarks: “This year marks the 40th anniversary of relations between the UAE and South Korea. Since 1980, the ties between the two countries have significantly advanced and were taken to a new level back in 2009, with the signing of the Prime Contract for the construction of the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant, one of the largest nuclear energy construction projects globally.”
H.E. Al Mazrouei added: “The establishment of the High-Level Consultation Committee on Nuclear Cooperation in 2018 has played an instrumental role in strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the peaceful nuclear energy sector. I commend the efforts of the committee and its achievements in the past two years and in supporting the realization of the respective visions for long-term strategic cooperation.”
The UAE-RoK High-Level Consultations Committee on Nuclear Cooperation consists of three working groups: Cooperation on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant and Overseas Projects; Nuclear Science and Technology R&D and finally Nuclear Safety and Security Regulation. Each working group has a joint programme of projects to strengthen nuclear cooperation relations, including sharing operating experience, cooperation in overseas nuclear energy projects, research and development, capacity building, cyber security, amongst others.