▲ This file photo, provided by South Korea's industry ministry, shows a board meeting of the South Korea-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation in Seoul on July 5, 2021. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

S Korea-Israel-investment

S. Korea, Israel sign US$18 mln investment deals on robot, mobility, advanced sectors

SEOUL, June 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Israel signed deals on Wednesday to make joint investments worth around US$18 million in robot and artificial intelligence projects as part of efforts to boost bilateral cooperation in advanced industry sectors, Seoul's industry ministry said Wednesday.

The two nations held a business seminar in Seoul, which brought together around 100 officials from their governments and major companies, and signed two contracts, a letter of investment intent and six memorandums of understanding that call for strengthening bilateral ties in next-generation technologies in major industry fields, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The seminar was also attended by South Korea's Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang and Israel's foreign minister, Eli Cohen.

Of the deals, South Korea's leading mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and Israel's Intuition Robotics signed a contract worth US$9.4 million to develop a robot specialized in caring for elderly citizens.

South Korea's Everybot Inc. and Israel's Inuitive agreed upon an $8.2 million joint project for an AI-based robot platform.

Other deals include a joint investment in bio manufacturing facilities and agreements on smart mobility, cyber security, autonomous driving and enhanced trade, the ministry said.

South Korea and Israel signed an agreement on industry technology cooperation in 1998, and have jointly spent $77 million on around 196 projects.

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