Saudi Arabia partners with Korea's LS to spur non-petrochem sectors

South Korean conglomerate LS Group and the government of Saudi Arabia will jointly seek business opportunities in a number of non-petrochemical sectors in the Middle East nation.

The group and Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources entered into a non-binding agreement on Monday for a business partnership with National Industrial Development Center (NIDC), a unit of the ministry.

LS Group, which owns Korea’s top wire and cable producer LS Cable & System Ltd., LS Electric Co. and global leading smelters LS MnM Inc., will first focus on collaboration with Saudi firms in the machinery and equipment sector under the memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The conglomerate will later expand the partnerships to the cable, power generation device and energy material industries. It is planning to accelerate its entry into Saudi Arabia’s industrial automation market via such partnerships.

The MOU is part of the kingdom’s efforts for income source diversification under Saudi Vision 2030. NIDC aims to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy, cutting its heavy dependence on petrochemicals and boosting various sectors like tech, logistics and healthcare.

LS Group has operated its business in Saudi Arabia since 1986 when it won an order to build a 154-kilovolt ultra-high voltage cable, said the group's Chairman Koo Ja-eun.

The conglomerate will work to secure opportunities in Saudi’s machinery and equipment sector and support the country to achieve tangible outcomes, the chairman added.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.