François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, returned on Friday from a fruitful visit to Japan and South Korea, where he met with top business and industry leaders in key sectors, including clean tech, automotive, electric vehicle batteries and semiconductors.
“As a Pacific nation, Canada recognizes that the Indo-Pacific region is critically important for the long-term prosperity and economic security of Canadians,” said Champagne. “The Government of Canada looks forward to deepening strategic ties to help build economic resiliency and provide new market opportunities for Canadian, Japanese and South Korean businesses while strengthening partnerships in science, research, innovation and AI.”
On the Japanese leg of the visit, the Minister first visited Nagoya, where he toured Toyota Motor’s Motomachi plant and met with the CEO of Toyota Tsusho. In Tokyo, in addition to leading the Canadian delegation at the annual summit of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), Minister Champagne held meetings with the Chairman of Mitsui as well as with the President and CEO of Panasonic Energy. The Minister also held a roundtable with members of Japan’s Battery Association for Supply Chain to discuss investment opportunities in Canada’s electric vehicle battery ecosystem.
In South Korea, Minister Champagne met with his counterpart, Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy as well as with Dr. Wan Yoon Jong, Economic Security Advisor to South Korea’s President. Minister Champagne held a series of meetings with the CEOs of major South Korean companies, including SK ie Technology, the POSCO Group and Hyundai Motors, as well as with corporate executives from Samsung Electronics and LG Energy Solution.
Finally, while in Seoul, the Minister co-hosted a Canada–Korea business roundtable with the Korea International Trade Association and participated in an event hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries. These two events were attended by Canadian companies E3 Lithium, Electra Battery Materials, Nano One Materials, Martinrea International, Zentek and Stingray, as well as South Korean companies such as Hyundai Engineering, Samsung C&T Corp, Medipost, Kakao Enterprise Corp, POSCO International, Hanwha Solutions, SK Inc. and Krafton.
