The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building (KCCI) / Korea Times file

By Kim Hyun-bin

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) jointly held the Korea-Australia Business Roundtable with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) on Feb. 25, seeking measures to solidify economic cooperation between Korea and Australia.

Followed by President Moon Jae-in's state visit to Australia last December, the forum brought together Australian and Korean participants to sign MOUs in the hydrogen, steel, energy storage system (ESS) and critical mineral sectors, as well as to consider possibilities for cooperative projects.

From the Korean side, 20 representatives from the government and leading corporations participated. The attendees include: 2nd Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Park Ki-young, Director General for Resources Industry Policy Yu Beop-min, and CEO of Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning Kwon Ki-Yeoung. Australia also sent 20 representatives from the government and leading corporations, including the deputy minister of the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER) and Austrade's CEO.

Hyundai Motor Company presented its Korea-Australia partnership in hydrogen mobility, encompassing green hydrogen, fuel cells, and fuel cell (FC) buses. SK E&S presented the Korea-Australia carbon capture and storage (CCS) cooperative project, including a system for CO2 storage exploration, at the roundtable.

Also, KOWEPO showcased its carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) project and solar power project related to the joint development of renewable energy in Wodonga, a city northeast of Melbourne. Panasia presented on the production of green hydrogen using clean ammonia, LNG development and the production of blue hydrogen using CCS.

"Countries around the world are boosting their efforts to achieve carbon neutrality and this is leading to an increase in demand for new minerals." KCCI Vice President Lee Seong-woo said. "If we further strengthen our cooperation with good faith in each other, we can reach the milestones of achieving a stable supply chain and carbon neutrality sooner than we expect."