President Lee Jae Myung kicked off his four-day trip to the U.S. with a meeting with Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm.

Ha Jung-woo, senior presidential secretary for artificial intelligence(AI) policy and future planning, briefed the media on Monday in New York.

During the meeting, Fink, who also chairs the World Economic Forum, pledged to help South Korea attract global investment as part of its goal to become the AI capital of the Asia-Pacific region.

Lee welcomed the idea of close cooperation with BlackRock, expressing hope that the partnership would produce tangible results.

Following the talks, the Ministry of Science and ICT signed a memorandum of understanding with BlackRock under which the two agreed to discuss establishing an AI-focused data center in South Korea and prepare large-scale investment plans over the next five years.