Toronto: South Korea has held a joint industrial cooperation forum with Canada, as announced by Seoul's industry ministry, a move that seems to be aimed at bolstering the country's bid for Canada's major submarine project.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources organized the Korea-Canada industrial cooperation forum in Toronto on Monday, focusing on promoting bilateral collaboration in future mobility, defense, space, artificial intelligence (AI), and other strategic sectors. The automobile industry has been identified as a crucial area where Canada seeks offset agreements with foreign partners, including Korea. An offset agreement involves a seller providing industrial benefits, such as technology transfer, to the buyer's country as part of a broader contract. This type of agreement is reportedly a significant factor in Canada's decision-making process for selecting the winner of its submarine program.
Major Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean Co. is competing for the estimated 60 trillion-won (US$41.4 billion) project, having been chosen as one of the two final contenders, alongside Germany's Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). To support its bid, the Korean government dispatched a special delegation, led by presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik, to Canada. This delegation includes Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Minister of Defense Acquisition Program Administration Lee Yong-cheol.
During the forum, Korean and Canadian companies signed six memorandums of understanding (MOUs) for cooperation in major industries. These agreements include a collaboration between Hanwha Ocean and Algoma Steel in the steel industry, partnerships for low Earth orbit satellite cooperation among Korea's Hanwha Systems Co. and Canada's Telesat and MDA, and a trilateral AI cooperation agreement among Hanwha Ocean, Hanwha Systems, and Cohere.
A business roundtable event also took place during the forum, bringing together chief executive-level officials from 12 Korean firms and nine Canadian firms to explore opportunities for expanding cooperation in advanced industries. "Korean companies already regard Canada as a reliable key partner, and expanding bilateral cooperation will help both countries strengthen their supply chain resilience, create more jobs, and enhance their global competitiveness," stated the industry minister in a press release.