Ottawa, Ontario
22 September 2014
The Government of Canada is committed to deepening relations with Korea in the areas of science, technology and innovation. To this end, on September 22, 2014, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Park Geun-hye, President of the Republic of Korea, announced their intention to develop an Agreement between our two countries in these areas. A science, technology and innovation agreement with Korea would provide Canada with the opportunity to build a lasting strategic framework with one of the world’s most innovative economies and top funders of research and development.
Through an agreement on science, technology and innovation, Canada would advance the following strategic objectives:
- strengthen people-to-people ties by providing a forum for government, researchers, industry, and key Canadian stakeholders to develop opportunities to collaborate and leverage the latest Research & Development and technological advancements in strategic sectors;
- provide Canadian stakeholders with opportunities to create new partnerships;
- enhance business-to-business linkages through a mechanism to directly support bilateral, industry-led research & development funding projects in strategic areas;
- increase knowledge of innovation systems by providing a forum for both countries to learn about respective science, technology and innovation policies, programs and government funding structures, thus providing insights into innovation, growth and export strategies; and,
- provide opportunities for exchanging best practices and for intelligence gathering, including on Canada’s competitors’ trade and science, technology and innovation engagement with the partner country.
Specific sectors of focus for collaboration will be identified during the negotiation process and aligned with the Government of Canada’s Global Markets Action Plan as well as Canada’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy. Increased science, technology and innovation cooperation would complement and support the recently signed Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement and facilitate a broader economic and bilateral relationship.
For more information about Canada’s science, technology and innovation international collaborations, visit www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/eng/science/agreements.jsp.
