NEW YORK CITY -- Korea and BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, have formed a strategic partnership to position the country as "artificial intellitence (AI) capital in Asia" through large-scale joint investments in data centers and renewable energy.
The agreement was made on Monday during a meeting between President Lee Jae Myung and Larry Fink, interim co-chair of the World Economic Forum and CEO of BlackRock. The president is visiting New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.
During the talks, the Korean government and BlackRock signed an investment partnership MOU, which highlighted a three-pronged approach on exploring combined development of data centers, establishing Korea as the Asia-Pacific base that can serve both domestic and regional needs, and enabling Korea to participate in international AI infrastructure projects.
"President Lee welcomed the opportunity to cooperate in making Korea the AI capital of the Asia-Pacific region, calling for close collaboration to deliver tangible results. The president also extended an invitation for Chairman Fink to visit Korea," Ha Jung-woo, senior presidential secretary for AI and future planning, said at a press briefing in New York.
Ha added that the agreement also specifies plans to jointly prepare, over the next five years, large-scale investments necessary for the region's AI-driven renewable energy transition.
During the meeting, Fink stressed the inseparability of AI innovation and decarbonization, calling them global imperatives. He praised Korea's proactive policies in AI and energy transition and expressed strong interest in investing in the nation's AI and energy infrastructure.
The BlackRock delegation also noted that under Lee's leadership, Korea's stock market has hit record highs since his inauguration, reflecting growing political and economic stability. They voiced confidence in the country's long-term growth prospects.
The meeting was also attended by Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners, former World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Cha Ji-ho, who accompanied the presidential delegation.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company with $12.5 trillion under management, has partnered with Microsoft, NVIDIA and xAI to launch the AI Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), which is spearheading global investment in AI and renewable energy infrastructure.