[South Korea and Saudi Arabia Strengthen Cooperation in the Field of AI Startups, Promote the Establishment of a Joint Fund] According to Deep Tide TechFlow, on July 16, South Korea's First Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups, No Yong-seok, met with Saudi Arabia's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Abdullah Al-Swaha, in Seoul. The two sides discussed cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), venture companies, and startups in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital innovation. In the area of venture capital, both parties shared the operational success of South Korea's policy-driven venture capital fund—'Fund of Funds'—and exchanged views on the joint fund currently being prepared by the two countries. This joint fund, co-negotiated by Korea Venture Investment Corp. (KVIC) and Saudi Arabia's government investment entity, Riyadh Valley Company (RVC), is planned to invest in SMEs, venture companies, and startups in deep tech fields such as AI and semiconductors. Al-Swaha expressed hope for strengthened cooperation between the two sides, aiming to establish the joint fund within this year. (Jin10)