China to Enhance Investment in GCC Energy, Infrastructure Projects

The China-GCC 1+6 Economic and Trade Ministers (BNA)
The China-GCC 1+6 Economic and Trade Ministers (BNA)
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China to Enhance Investment in GCC Energy, Infrastructure Projects

The China-GCC 1+6 Economic and Trade Ministers (BNA)
The China-GCC 1+6 Economic and Trade Ministers (BNA)

China seeks to strengthen its position in energy and infrastructure projects in the Gulf countries.

Kuwait has therefore, expressed readiness to discuss China's participation in developing housing cities and infrastructure.

The China-GCC 1+6 Economic and Trade Ministers' meeting launched its activities in Guangzhou with the participation of Gulf trade ministers, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jassem al-Budaiwi, and the Chinese Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao.

The meeting focused on several key topics, most importantly preserving the multilateral trading system and strengthening the FTA negotiations between China and the GCC.

It also addressed enhancing investment cooperation, developing the industrial and supply chains, and enhancing cooperation in infrastructure connectivity and modern energy.

The minister also welcomed the establishment of the joint association between various Chinese and Gulf investment and financing institutions and activating its role to raise the level of mutual investment cooperation.

- Residential cities in Kuwait

Kuwait's Minister of Commerce and Industry and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Mohammad al-Aiban stated Kuwait's keenness that China have an active role in developing its contributions to housing cities, infrastructure, and energy projects.

Aiban indicated that these contributions have a solid impact on Kuwait's economy.

In a press statement Sunday, the Ministry of Commerce said that Aiban discussed trade exchange with his Chinese counterpart, in addition to diversifying trade relations, and expanding cooperation in non-oil fields.

Kuwait looks forward to enhancing the level of trade cooperation between both countries and further deepening cooperation in the investment field, said Aiban.

He underlined that China is one of the largest exporters of imports to Kuwait and one of Kuwait's largest trading partners in the non-oil field.

The Chinese Minister confirmed that Kuwait had become one of the crucial countries for China concerning renewable energy, infrastructure projects, energy, housing, and other projects.

He pointed to the high investment rates between them, expressing hope that the volume of investment will increase further by the Kuwaiti side in the promising fields in China.

- Power supply

Interlocutors also discussed promoting internal and external trade, reviewing and evaluating the unified and approved trade laws and draft laws in the GCC countries, the unified strategic framework for the free trade agreement, and consensus and initiatives on economic and trade cooperation.

They discussed the importance of a stable and reliable energy supply for trade, industry development, and investment.

Member states supported and encouraged the continued trade of crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum derivatives between the GCC countries and China.

The joint meeting discussed the possibility of cooperation in e-commerce and agreed to enhance collaboration, qualify bilateral trade, new technologies and tools, and the possibility of conducting local currency exchange business between China and the GCC countries.

During the meeting, the Gulf Ministers expressed their keenness to enhance communication under the Chinese "Belt and Road" initiative, promote the building of economic and trade cooperation mechanisms, and deepen bilateral cooperation.

They also expressed their desire to raise trade liberalization and facilitation, stimulate the potential to develop trade and expand its volume, and boost cooperation in services trade and growing digital business.

The Gulf ministers emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation in infrastructure for the digital economy and encourage institutions to actively participate in providing traditional infrastructure with digitization and smart network transformation to establish the communications infrastructure.



South Korea's Hanwha Ocean Targets US Navy Orders as Trump Seeks Shipbuilding Ties

Steve SK Jeong, Head of Naval Ship International Business Department of Hanwha Ocean, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Seoul, South Korea, May 2, 2025.   REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
Steve SK Jeong, Head of Naval Ship International Business Department of Hanwha Ocean, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Seoul, South Korea, May 2, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
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South Korea's Hanwha Ocean Targets US Navy Orders as Trump Seeks Shipbuilding Ties

Steve SK Jeong, Head of Naval Ship International Business Department of Hanwha Ocean, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Seoul, South Korea, May 2, 2025.   REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
Steve SK Jeong, Head of Naval Ship International Business Department of Hanwha Ocean, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Seoul, South Korea, May 2, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean aims to boost its revenue from overseas military vessels to around 4 trillion won ($2.91 billion) by 2030 and hopes to pick up more repair orders from the US Navy, a senior executive told Reuters.

The Asian country is a major global shipbuilder and trade talks with the US on tariffs brought up possible cooperation in the sector after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to restore US shipbuilding.

Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding, is one of the largest shipbuilders in the world with an order book of $31.43 billion as of the end of March. It acquired a US shipyard in Philadelphia last year to expand in the market.

Its naval ships business, which has built dozens of submarines and surface vessels used by the South Korean Navy, has won two orders from the US Navy since last year to repair and overhaul its ships for the first time.

"I think we may be the biggest shipyard in the world that has taken on these maintenance, repair and overhaul orders from the US Navy," said Steve SK Jeong, head of the Naval Ship Global Business at Hanwha Ocean, days after US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan visited its shipyard.

"It is not very profitable, but learning the process of working with the US Navy is valuable, which will help if we win newbuild orders."

Hanwha Ocean hoped to win a double-digit number of US Navy maintenance and repair orders before 2030, Jeong said.

Trump has vowed to spend "a lot of money on shipbuilding" to restore US capacity, and cited concern over how his country has fallen behind in an industry that is also dominated by China.

Still, US laws can make it harder for foreign shipyards even if they have US operations. They are prohibited from building US Navy vessels, due to the Byrnes-Tollefson Amendment of the US Department of Defense Appropriations Act.

TRANSPLANTING PROCESSES

Hanwha Ocean's Philadelphia Shipyard is trying to get a license that clears it to build US Navy vessels, but transplanting cutting-edge manufacturing processes honed from competition with other South Korean and Chinese shipyards is not as simple as bringing in some automated welding machines, Jeong said.

"I think the US shipbuilding industry hasn't had to compete very much. Facilities are old, and there's a shortage of technicians," Jeong said.

"We are looking to modernize facilities, train and equip workers, and bring in our manufacturing process that can build the same ship in, I think, two-thirds the time or less as that of a US shipyard."

Jeong said the company is investing in South Korea to use existing facilities and expand naval ship capacity to build five submarines and three surface vessels at the same time by 2029, from two submarines and two surface vessels now.

Despite building 17 submarines for the South Korean Navy since 1987, Hanwha Ocean has only actively competed for overseas orders in the last few years as South Korea's low birthrate and shrinking military-age population risk cooling local demand.

It is competing to export submarines to Poland and Canada, a frigate to Thailand as well as knocking on the door in markets in the Middle East, South America, North Africa and Southeast Asia, to build up a sustained flow of orders that would bring foreign sales to 4 trillion won by 2030, Jeong said.

That would be about four times the size of its 1.05 trillion won of revenue in 2024.