Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

RobotWorld 2024 showcases latest eye-catching robot technologies

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) is launching RobotWorld 2024 from October 23–26 at KINTEX in Ilsan, organized by related institutions like the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement (KIRIA) and the Korea Association of Robot Industry (KARI).  This year’s RobotWorld drew a record high participation of 291 companies and institutions displaying the latest robot technologies at 880 booths, held in conjunction with Boom-Up Korea Week 2024 to host trade shows, overseas market strategy seminars, and other export assistance programs.  At the center of attention are robots equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) as AI is expanding the scope of tasks robots can perform, introducing a variety of different robots such as humanoids, delivery robots, and guide robots. Upon a spoken request, Korean company AeiROBOT’s humanoid hands the person a candy of requested color using AI-based voice and object recognition, showing prospects for utilization in manufacturing and service sectors. ROBOTIS’ indoor delivery robot is able to maneuver through elevators and security doors with its AI vision and robot arms, exhibiting an increased range of autonomous movement. INTEGRIT’s large language model (LLM)-powered robot helps customers with hotel checkouts. A number of technologies are also showcased by companies that succeeded in localizing key robot parts. Tesollo’s robot grippers rely on AI vision to adjust their position and shape to grip objects. SPG displayed its localized robot reducer that can be applied to various different robots like industrial robots and humanoids. Early this year, MOTIE announced plans to support these endeavors with the aim of raising five key robot parts’ localization rate up to 80 percent by 2030. Based on the view that robots are the future growth engine for the next-generation, MOTIE intends to push several policies to help nurture the robot industry, including an anchor project for AI autonomous manufacturing, the “Humanoid Initiative,” and overhauling of AI robot laws.   date2024-10-24

Boom-Up Korea Week 2024 in full swing, enters 2nd week with trade show securing $235 mln in export deals

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held a trade show on an unprecedented scale for Boom-Up Korea Week 2024 (“Boom-Up”) through October 22–23 at KINTEX in Ilsan, with the nationwide export promotion event now entering its second week. Launched over a period of two weeks from October 16–31, this year’s Boom-Up integrates 20 industrial exhibitions nationwide in conjunction with trade shows and introduces the new “Boom-Up Week” format for the first time through collaboration with Korea’s four major exhibition venues and key industry associations. Global buyers coming to Korea from around the world are provided catered services in terms of information and transportation. For this historic Boom-Up, KOTRA’s Korea Business Centers (KBCs) served as promotion channels for drawing 1,200 overseas buyers from 62 countries, including GM, Panasonic, and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), as well as 3,000 promising export companies and roughly 200,000 visitors. Exhibition booths for future mobility, nuclear power, bio, and other advanced industries took up center stage, showcasing high-performance hydrogen-electric hybrid concept cars (Hyundai Motor), world’s first commercial wireless communications and information systems for nuclear reactors (Ilshin EDI), and Korea’s first card payment platform for trade settlements (VISA).  In addition, visitors were able to experience a medical tourism promotion booth, free-trade zone (FTZ) business booth, and a one-stop export booth for bid participation assistance. MOTIE Minister Dukgeun Ahn visited the trade show booths to encourage export consultations and toured the local tourism program lounge introducing tours around Korea. The Boom-Up saw the inking of USD 235 million worth of export deals and memorandums of understanding (MOUs), the total outcome expected to reach $300 million considering additional contracts. In light of the recent global popularity of Korean culture, the Boom-Up is accommodating international visitors via diverse bleisure (blend of business and leisure) programs with tourist vouchers for lodging, local tours, and K-pop performances. Meanwhile, an MOU was signed among KINTEX, COEX, EXCO, BEXCO, KOTRA, Korea International Trade Association (KITA), and Korea Tourism Organization with an aim to nurture Korea’s exhibition industry for launching global-scale exhibitions like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) or Mobile World Congress (MWC), as Korea is soon expected to rank among the world’s top five exporting countries. The Korean government will start the process of selecting applicants for this project at the end of 2024 to gear up efforts to activate a comprehensive support system for exhibition planning and consulting, attracting startups and buyers, launching sidelines events, and integrating tourism programs in step with global trends beginning next year.   date2024-10-23

Korea and Algeria to bring back Joint Commission after 17-year hiatus for stronger economic cooperation

The Republic of Korea’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn met Algeria's National People's Assembly (APN) President Brahim Boughali today in Seoul to discuss measures for wider economic cooperation between the two countries. The bilateral meeting was convened on the occasion of Assembly President Boughali’s visit to Korea, succeeding the Algerian president’s visit in 2003. As a follow-up to the recent Korea-Africa Summit (June), today’s high-level exchanges aim to strengthen Korea’s economic cooperation with Algeria, the only African country at present with which Korea is in a strategic partnership. Minister Ahn expressed appreciation for Assembly President Boughali’s strong support towards resolving the challenges experienced by Korean plant companies operating in the Algerian market and asked for the Algerian Assembly and government’s interest in Korean firms’ participation in Algeria’s social overhead capital (SOC) plant projects going forward. He also requested that Algeria’s recently tightened import regulations be eased, proposing that the two countries continue their cooperative ties for a forward-looking relationship through the signing of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Assembly President Boughali stated that Korea and Algeria are mutually complementary partners in view of Korea’s advanced technology and development know-how and Algeria’s rich population and resources. He expressed hope for Korean companies’ participation in Algeria’s industrial diversification efforts, suggesting that they swiftly resume the joint commission that has been on hiatus for 17 years. Minister Ahn welcomed the joint commission’s resumption and shared plans to activate working-level consultations, maintaining that the two countries’ trade and industry ministries promptly enter the Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF) memorandum of understanding (MOU) proposed by Korea as a platform for trade and economic cooperation.   date2024-10-23

Toray Industries invests over $100 mln in key materials production for advanced industries

Korea's Director-General for Cross-Border Investment Policy Peob-min Ryu attended today the groundbreaking ceremony for Japanese company Toray Industries’ advanced materials production plant in Gumi City, North Gyeongsang Province. After establishing its textiles manufacturing plant in Korea in 1963, Toray Industries has continued to expand investment in critical materials areas such as high-performance engineering plastics, secondary battery separators, and carbon textiles. Toray Industries’ accumulated total investments in Korea over the last six decades amount to roughly KRW 5 trillion, the largest among Japanese manufacturers, and approximately 4,000 new jobs have been created in the local economy. During Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn’s visit to Japan in April 2024, Toray Industries pledged investment plans in aramid fiber production and this May, the company entered an investment cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Gumi City, North Gyeongsang Province, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) for a ₩500 billion investment in advanced materials areas by 2025. Today’s groundbreaking ceremony announces the commencement of construction for Toray Industries’ extension of facilities for producing aramid fibers and polyester film through a USD 100 million-plus investment. Aramid fibers are a class of fibers of ultra-high strength and ultra-high heat resistance used to produce electric vehicle (EV) motors and heat protective clothing. Polyester film is a key material for producing multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) used to make parts for EVs, AI devices, and autonomous vehicles. The establishment of a production base for these cutting-edge materials is anticipated to help reinforce the domestic supply chain and boost exports. In a congratulatory message at the groundbreaking ceremony, Director General Ryu stated that the ministry will give full measure to support the successful implementation of Toray Industries’ investment through cooperation with Gumi City and North Gyeongsang Province and shared plans to nurture a stable and attractive investment environment to further promote global high-tech companies’ investments in Korea.   date2024-10-23

Korea and Kazakhstan discuss implementation measures for June summit outcomes

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea met Kazakhstan’s Minister for Energy Almasadam Sätqaliev today at the Government Complex Sejong for talks on bilateral energy cooperation.  The first follow-up to the Korea-Kazakhstan summit held this June in Astana, today’s energy ministers’ meeting served as an opportunity for the two countries to assess summit outcomes in energy areas and discuss swift implementation measures.  The ministers shared the view that the recent summit has acted as a groundbreaking momentum for strengthening Korea-Kazakhstan energy exchanges. Based on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) inked by the two countries for electrical power industry cooperation, they discussed steps to boost Kazakhstan’s power policy collaboration with Korea via projects on improving environmental facilities, building combined cycle power plants (CCPPs), and increasing the utilization of renewable energy.  Moreover, both sides are aiming to implement summit outcome follow-ups in non-energy areas as well, such as establishing a critical minerals supply chain partnership and expanding official development assistance (ODA) in industry and energy sectors.  Requesting for greater participation of Korean companies in Kazakh energy plant projects going forward, Minister Ahn also asked the Kazakh government’s interest and support towards the global diffusion of the Carbon Free Energy (CFE) Initiative launched by the Korean government to achieve carbon neutrality through the utilization of diverse CFE sources.   date2024-10-22

Korea and Malaysia launch 5th negotiating round for bilateral FTA

Director General for FTA Negotiations Kwon Hye-jin at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea is heading the Korean delegation in the fifth negotiating round for the Korea-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) from October 22–25 in Seoul.  The Malaysian delegation is led by Senior Director for Strategic Negotiations Sumathi Balakrishnan at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI). The two delegations, comprising roughly 60 members, will seek to move negotiations forward across 13 working groups including those on goods, services, investment, rules of origin, economic cooperation, digital, and bio. Following the joint declaration to resume Korea-Malaysia FTA negotiations this March, the two countries held the fourth official negotiating round this August in Kuala Lumpur. This fifth negotiating round is to focus on narrowing differences and accelerating discussions per each area based on previous negotiations.   date2024-10-22

Korea and Japan launch 17th bilateral Industrial Technology Fair

Deputy Minister for Trade Park Jong-won at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea attended the 17th Korea-Japan Industrial Technology Fair (“Fair”) today in Seoul. Launched in 2008, the Fair has since acted as a bilateral channel for business exchanges and industrial and technology cooperation between the two countries. Roughly 250 Korean and Japanese business leaders are taking part this year, including representatives of key industries such as Korea-Japan Economic Association Chairman and Samyang Holdings Chairman Kim Yoon and Japan-Korea Industrial Technology Co-Operation Foundation (JKF) Senior Director Uchida Toshiaki, as well as those from the Japanese Embassy in Korea and other government officials. The Fair is hosting one-on-one business consultations for Korean and Japanese information technology (IT) firms and materials and parts companies; technical consultations between Japanese experts and Korean businesses; and a Korea-Japan Cooperation Seminar for discussions on current trends and strategies regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles.  A part of the program is also dedicated to awarding six industry and academia figures for their contribution to bilateral industrial technology cooperation. In his congratulatory message, Deputy Minister Park assessed that industrial and technology cooperation is a strong driver in the development of Korea-Japan relations and highlighted that the Korean government will provide strong support towards these bilateral collaborations amid the increasing global trade uncertainties.   date2024-10-22

Korea and Austria discuss stronger economic cooperation

The Republic of Korea’s Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong met with Austria’s Federal Minister for Labor Martin Kocher on October 21 in Sejong City for talks on bilateral measures for stronger cooperation in trade, investment, industries, and Korea-EU trade. Austria is Korea’s 12th largest trade partner in the EU, their trade volume reaching USD 2.9 billion in 2023. In terms of investment, the two countries are expanding the scope of business cooperation centering on high-tech areas such as electric vehicle (EV) batteries and semiconductors. With Korea’s strength in industrial technology and Austria’s competitiveness in basic science fields, the two countries can look forward to extensive collaboration across diverse future-oriented areas like advanced manufacturing, digital, and hydrogen. In view of increasing bilateral cooperation in wide-ranging areas including bio and information and communications technology (ICT) through Eureka and other R&D platforms, Trade Minister Cheong proposed that Korea and Austria continue to support bilateral cooperation in high-tech industry sectors like hydrogen and artificial intelligence (AI) to further invigorate industrial technology collaboration among their companies and research labs. Moreover, addressing hydrogen energy as a future growth engine and an effective means for decarbonization, the trade chief noted the two countries’ progressing joint research in hydrogen mobility and suggested that they continue these efforts for the realization of hydrogen economies. Lastly, he articulated that Korean firms’ entry into Austria’s EV battery and car parts market is contributing to the Central European country’s economic growth, and asked the Austrian government’s interest and support with regard to Korean companies’ concerns over the EU’s battery bills and other economic legislations. date2024-10-21