Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik is set to visit the United Arab Emirates(UAE) as President Lee Jae Myung’s special envoy for strategic economic cooperation.

A presidential office official said on Thursday that Kang will depart for Abu Dhabi in the afternoon to facilitate cooperation.

The official said that Kang plans to discuss building a strategic economic cooperation model covering artificial intelligence, defense, advanced manufacturing, culture, food and health care.

During the visit to South Korea’s major market for arms exports, Kang is likely to meet senior UAE officials, deliver a presidential letter and potentially recommend the purchase of South Korean weapons.

Last month, Kang visited Poland, Romania and Norway as the presidential special envoy to deliver letters from Lee and discuss defense cooperation.

There is speculation that Kang might also visit other Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, to ink defense partnerships.