Joint Statement: 3rd Canada-Korea Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee (JSCTCC) meeting

The 3rd Canada-Korea Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC) meeting took place on November 24-25, 2022, in Seoul.

The JSTCC meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan, Vice President of Life Sciences at the National Research Council Canada, and Mr. Kim Seong-Gyu, Director General of the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT. The meeting was attended by officials from several key departments and agencies of both countries, as well as representatives from leading research institutions and the private sector.

Further to the commitment expressed by Prime Minister Trudeau and Republic of Korea President Yoon in September 2022 to enhance the Canada-Korea bilateral relationship, the JSTCC meeting was an important step to identify new areas of collaboration.

During the meeting, the co-chairs reaffirmed that Canada and Korea are well positioned to work together to facilitate technology investment and commercialization, advance new research collaborations, and continue to support co-innovation partnerships between Canadian and Korean businesses. The meeting forged deeper engagement across our respective science, technology and innovation communities, particularly in critical areas such as artificial intelligence, battery & electric vehicle value chain, semiconductors, life sciences, and agri-tech. At the conclusion of the meeting, the co-chairs agreed to develop a Joint Action Plan to steer future collaboration efforts in identified priority areas.

In 2016, Canada and Korea signed a Science, Technology and Innovation Agreement, establishing a JSTCC which meets in principle every two years. Previous JSTCC meetings took place in 2019 and 2017.