South Korean businesses signed 26 memoranda of understanding(MOU) worth tens of trillions of won with the Saudi government and companies in conjunction with a visit to Seoul by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

At a bilateral investment forum hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Saudi investment ministry on Thursday, the latter signed five MOUs with South Korean firms concerning railway, chemical and pharmaceutical cooperation.

One of them was with Hyundai Rotem for a railway contract worth two-point-five trillion won, part of the crown prince's blueprint for the mega smart city of NEOM, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Eighteen MOUs were signed between South Korean public and private firms and Saudi public and private entities, including the Saudi sovereign asset manager, the Public Investment Fund(PIF).

The Korea Electric Power Corporation, the Korea Southern Power Company, the Korea National Oil Corporation, POSCO and Samsung C&T signed an MOU to build a green hydrogen and ammonia plant worth an estimated eight-point-five trillion won with the PIF.

Engineering, procurement and construction(EPC) contracts were inked by Saudi Aramco subsidiary S-Oil and three local builders for the seven-billion-dollar "Shaheen" project to build a steam cracker for the petrochemical business in Ulsan.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Saudi Arabia clinched investment contracts with South Korean firms worth a total of 30 billion U.S. dollars.