The Republic of Korea (RoK) and a number of Southeast Asian nations agreed on January 26 to expand their joint research and development in green and digital technologies, as well as launch six projects this year.

The signing ceremony for the agreement took place in Seoul and was attended by ambassadors of the ASEAN countries, including Vietnam and the Philippines, and officials of their participating companies, according to the RoK Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

As reported by the Yonhap news agency, under the agreement, the governments involved will support the six joint R&D projects in new technology sectors by extending up to 1 billion won (835,282 USD) over the next three years per project.

The projects include the joint development of a 1 tonne-class electric refrigerated truck between the RoK’s Kyeongin Van and Vietnam's Truong Hai Auto Corp. (THACO), as well as those to develop an electric bus, a smart livestock farming management system, a specialised tractor, an intelligent street lighting system and solar generation for buildings between their firms, according to the ministry.

"It is meant to help companies from the two sides jointly develop new items to meet the demand in the ASEAN market and to advance into a third market," the ministry said in a release quoted by Yonhap.

The two sides will also push to create a new "industry innovation" platform in charge of supporting the joint R&D, technology transfer and exports.

Source: VNA