[Exclusive] Korea-Germany Materials and Components Technology Cooperation Center Also Hampered by COVID-19

Delays in Opening Due to Spread Across Europe
10 Our Companies Scheduled to Move In Face Difficulties

Data provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) spreads across Europe, the planned opening of the Korea-Germany Materials and Components Technology Cooperation Center next month has also been delayed.

On the 22nd, a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy official said, "After selecting 10 Korean companies to move into the center, we were preparing documents related to on-site inspections in Germany, but the move-in has been postponed at the request of the German side. The center cannot be properly operated unless Germany lifts its entry restrictions and Korean businesspeople can move actively, so it will be difficult to open in the first half of the year."

Accordingly, the opening of the center is expected to be postponed to the second half of the year. The ministry had planned to open the center on the 19th of next month within the technology complex in the Aachen City Region, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, and had even completed interior construction.

Previously, in December last year, Minister Sung Yun-mo of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced comprehensive cooperation in the materials and components sector together with Peter Altmaier, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, agreeing to open the center within the first half of the year.

The center was set to house six mid-sized companies including Hanguk Danja Gongup (Hanguk Danja), two mid-sized prospective companies such as MetabioMed, and two small and medium enterprises like Faber Nine. In December last year, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was also signed between Korea's Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology and Germany's NRW Economic Development Corporation.

With the delay in the center's opening, companies waiting to move in are also facing difficulties. An executive from a company scheduled to move in explained, "We planned to jointly develop future items with the German side after moving into the center and to discover joint projects with local research institutes and companies."

A senior official from a tenant company said, "Even if the center opens immediately, it is expected to be difficult to conduct local business trips or work normally due to COVID-19. There are also issues with ongoing projects with other German companies that cannot be visited, making detailed progress difficult."

The ministry emphasized that only the opening is delayed and that the scope of materials and components cooperation between the two countries is not reduced. Since the core is 'technology cooperation' necessary for mid- to long-term self-reliance in materials and components rather than short-term deal sourcing, the ministry believes that a slight delay in the center's opening will not be a major problem.

An official from the ministry said, "The main goal of establishing the center is not marketing between our companies and German companies, but technology cooperation that helps increase self-reliance in materials and components, which has risen since Japan's export restrictions."