Cooperation in Future Mobility
SMEs and Startups Minister Park Young-sun met with Matthias Luehrs, Daimler president in charge of overseas sales, in Seoul on Oct. 22 to discuss cooperation in the field of future mobility including autonomous driving.
The minister and the president agreed to hold connected car startup hackathons and the Startup Autobahn Korea so that the two sides can work closely with each other for startup growth support and R&D assistance.
Daimler's first Startup Autobahn event was held in 2016. The purpose of the event is to find startups that are globally competitive in the future car industry. It took place in the United States, China, Singapore and India and the Startup Autobahn Korea is scheduled for the second half of next year.
“South Korea is a technological powerhouse where we can cooperate with a lot of small and medium-sized enterprises,” the president remarked, adding, “We are looking forward to working with many startups in South Korea.”
The South Korean minister met with other European companies such as L'Oréal and Philips, too. They agreed to form a consultative body for startup support, which is expected to be led by the Korea Startup Forum and the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea.