The Government of Canada recognizes great opportunities for cooperation in science, technology and innovation (ST&I) with South Korea and views this as a key element of the bilateral relationship. An ST&I agreement with South Korea will allow Canada to build a lasting strategic framework with one of the world’s most innovative economies and top funders of research and development (R & D). South Korea’s gross expenditure on R & D in 2013 was KRW$59.3 trillion (equivalent to C$55.8 billion). South Korea benefits from a robust industrial R & D system with business enterprise expenditures on R & D as a percentage of GDP of 3.14 percent in 2013.
This ST&I agreement has the ability to provide significant commercialization opportunities for highly innovative Canadian companies. This agreement with South Korea will also 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 R & D and technological advancements in strategic sectors.
R & D is crucial for Canada’s success as a trading nation. It plays a key role in shaping the economy and the jobs of the future by creating new goods and services that improve the standard of living for Canadians and for communities around the world.
South Korea is a priority market under the Global Markets Action Plan, Canada’s blueprint for creating jobs and opportunities for Canadians through trade. Canada’s merchandise exports to South Korea were almost $4.2 billion in 2014, up 19.6 percent from the year before. South Korea is Canada’s seventh-largest export market.
In Asia, Canada has similar ST&I agreements with China, India and Japan.
