UAE Pledges to Invest $30 Billion in South Korea

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, receives Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea and Kim Keon-hee, First Lady of South Korea, upon their arrival for a state visit reception, at Qasr Al Watan, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 15, 2023. Mohamed Al Hammadi/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, receives Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea and Kim Keon-hee, First Lady of South Korea, upon their arrival for a state visit reception, at Qasr Al Watan, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 15, 2023. Mohamed Al Hammadi/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS
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UAE Pledges to Invest $30 Billion in South Korea

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, receives Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea and Kim Keon-hee, First Lady of South Korea, upon their arrival for a state visit reception, at Qasr Al Watan, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 15, 2023. Mohamed Al Hammadi/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, receives Yoon Suk Yeol, President of South Korea and Kim Keon-hee, First Lady of South Korea, upon their arrival for a state visit reception, at Qasr Al Watan, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 15, 2023. Mohamed Al Hammadi/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERS

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will invest $30 billion in South Korea's industries, South Korea's presidential office said on Sunday.

The investment decision was announced as South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol met his UAE counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi during a four-day state visit, Yoon's office said.

"We have decided a $30 billion investment based on the trust on South Korea which keeps promises under any circumstances," Yoon's office quoted the UAE president as saying.

Details of the investment plan were not immediately known but Yoon's press secretary, Kim Eun-hye, said in a statement the investment will be directed at nuclear power, defense, hydrogen and solar energy industries, among others.

Seoul's finance ministry said the $30 billion investment would be led by sovereign wealth funds, including Mubadala Investment Company.

At their summit, the two countries also signed 13 memorandums of understanding, including an agreement between the state-run Korea Development Bank and the Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala to cooperate for investment in South Korean companies.



Ukraine Receives First 3 Bln Euro Tranche of G7 Loan from EU

An explosion of a drone after it hit an apartment building is seen in the sky during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a drone after it hit an apartment building is seen in the sky during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
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Ukraine Receives First 3 Bln Euro Tranche of G7 Loan from EU

An explosion of a drone after it hit an apartment building is seen in the sky during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a drone after it hit an apartment building is seen in the sky during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine January 10, 2025. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Ukraine received its first 3 billion euro ($3.09 billion) tranche of the European Union's portion of the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loan agreed for Ukraine by the G7 group of countries, its prime minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday.

It was the first tranche of EU loan secured by profits from frozen Russian assets, Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram app.

G7 leaders in October agreed to provide some $50 billion in loans to Ukraine via multiple channels.
"Today, we deliver €3 billion to Ukraine, the 1st payment of the EU part of the G7 loan. Giving Ukraine the financial power to continue fighting for its freedom – and prevail," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media platform X.

In other economic news, Ukraine's steel output rose by 21.6% in 2024 to 7.58 million metric tons, its producers union said late on Thursday, though fighting that is closing in on the country's only coking coal mine threatens to slash volumes this year.

Steel production has already suffered since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, which has led to the destruction of leading steel plants.

Ukraine, formerly a major steel producer and exporter, reported a 70.7% drop in output in 2022 to 6.3 million tons. It fell to 6 million tons in 2023.

The steelmakers' union said in October the potential closure of the Pokrovsk mine, Ukraine's only coking coal mine, could cause steel production to slump to 2-3 million metric tons in 2025.
Advancing Russian forces are less than 2 km (1.24 miles) from the mine, Ukrainian military analyst DeepState said on Friday.
The mine's owner, steelmaker Metinvest BV, said last month it had already halted some operations at the mine and two industry sources said it was operating at 50% capacity.
Producers have said they hope to find coking coal from elsewhere in Ukraine should the mine be seized by Russian troops, but imports would inevitably be needed which would raise costs.