The Export-Import Bank of Korea (www.koreaexim.go.kr, Chairman Lee Duk-Hoon, "Korea Eximbank") announced on May 22 that the Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Korea Eximbank Chairman Lee Duk-Hoon, who accompanied President Park Geun-hye on her UAE visit, met with ADNOC Director General Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi at 2 p.m. on May 20 and signed the MOU, in which the two organizations agreed to work toward signing a credit line agreement and share information on projects in ADNOC’s pipeline.

The credit line agreement envisaged by the MOU would enable ADNOC to immediately obtain the necessary financing within the limit of the credit line for projects it awards to Korean companies.

Effectively freeing ADNOC from financing-related concerns in this way would work to the advantage of Korean companies bidding for the sponsor’s projects, especially since overseas projects nowadays increasingly come with ‘financing first, award later’ terms as they grow larger and more complex.

The UAE is the seventh most resource-rich country in the world in terms of oil and natural gas reserves.

Having so far awarded construction projects worth a total of USD 64.8 billion to Korean contractors, the country is Korea's largest source of overseas construction deals after Saudi Arabia.

ADNOC is one of the three leading state-owned project sponsors in the Middle East, along with ARAMCO and SABIC of Saudi Arabia, and is in charge of more than 90 percent of UAE's oil and gas projects.

Through its 15 giant affiliates such as TAKREER and GASCO, ADNOC has thus far awarded a combined USD 21 billion worth of oil refinery, petrochemical plant, and other projects to such Korean EPC companies as Samsung Engineering, Hyundai Engineering and Construction, and GS E&C.

After the signing ceremony, Chairman Lee remarked, "The MOU between the two institutions is likely to bolster opportunities for Korean companies to participate in projects awarded by ADNOC. Korea Eximbank will pursue similar agreements with oil companies and power corporations in emerging countries as well as in the Middle East."