President Lee Meets Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Chairman from UAE: "Let’s Deliver Concrete Results"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung met on the 15th with Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, one of the key figures in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority, to discuss concrete ways to advance bilateral cooperation projects, including in the defense industry.
At Cheong Wa Dae’s main building that day, President Lee received Chairman Khaldoon, who is visiting Korea, and said, "Korea and the UAE have agreed to build a relationship in which we walk together for 100 years—what we call in Korean a relationship that lasts a hundred years." He added, "I hope we will carefully review how to make this a reality and produce concrete and tangible results."
President Lee went on to say, "The Korean people have been eagerly awaiting your visit, Chairman Khaldoon," adding, "Our people still remember the warm welcome we received at the national level when we visited the UAE."
Turning to Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, who was present at the meeting, President Lee asked, "Chief Kang is in charge of joint projects with the UAE—are the two of you working well together?" He then said, "In the meantime, we have prepared in detail what the two countries can do together, and I hope you will consult closely so that we can achieve visible results."
He also said, "I hope Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) is doing well. It would be good if he could pay a state visit to Korea in the near future so that we can have more concrete discussions," adding, "I believe he will visit before long, and I hope we will prepare thoroughly so that we can deliver substantive outcomes at that time."
This was President Lee’s first meeting with Chairman Khaldoon in about two months, following his state visit to the UAE last November. At that time, Chairman Khaldoon was designated as an "honorary escort" and accompanied President Lee throughout his schedule.
Chairman Khaldoon’s visit to Korea this time is understood to be aimed at fleshing out cooperation plans in areas such as defense, artificial intelligence (AI) and energy that were discussed during President Lee’s visit to the UAE. At the time, Kang Hoon-sik said that the likelihood of Korean defense companies winning more than 15 billion dollars in orders had increased significantly.
Chairman Khaldoon said, "President Mohamed asked me in particular to convey his warm thanks and regards," adding, "We were delighted and happy to welcome President Lee as a brother and friend in the UAE."
He continued, "President Lee’s visit had a major impact across the UAE. Our people watched it with great interest and have high expectations for how the special strategic partnership between our two countries will develop."
He added, "As President Lee said, I will work closely with Chief Kang, whom I regard like an elder brother, to deliver results," noting that "President MBZ also emphasized that it is important to achieve as many tangible outcomes as possible in the shortest possible time."
cjk@fnnews.com Choi Jong-geun Reporter