The World Class Enterprise Association has embarked on securing opportunities for global expansion by promoting overseas advancement of domestic companies through cooperation with Israel's Yozma Group, while also establishing new growth engines such as business collaboration and technology transfer.
On the 6th, the World Class Enterprise Association stated, "Last year, Korea signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Israel, the first among Asian countries, and it marked the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Israel. To find new growth engines through exchanges with Israel's innovative technologies and promising companies, we visited Israel for 7 days and 5 nights starting from the 31st of last month."
The World Class Enterprise Association is an organization where about 300 small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies selected for the government's 'World Class Project' share their strategies and promote growth. They regularly visit promising overseas companies and research institutes to cooperate on global expansion and other matters.
This year, over 20 companies including Dongjin Semichem, Kolmar Korea, Nepes, Vitrocell, Shinyoung, Unitec, and Daesung Hightech participated, meeting with Israel's Minister of Economy and visiting the Weizmann Institute and Yozma Innovation Center, two of the world's top three basic science research centers generating annual technology transfer derivative sales of $30 billion (approximately 39.5 trillion KRW).
The Yozma Innovation Center is a consulting institution established by Yozma Group Korea to connect Israel's innovative technologies with Korea's leading industrial ecosystem.
Additionally, meetings were held with global venture companies in various promising industries such as AI, electric vehicles, semiconductors, smart factories, aerospace, biohealthcare, and advanced materials.
In particular, the delegation explored companies with innovative technologies including Alpha Tau, a Nasdaq-listed company in the biohealthcare sector; Ultrasite, specializing in echocardiography technology; Elbit Systems, an aerospace and defense technology company; StoreDot, a high-speed charging battery technology company; and Aerovation, a carbon capture technology company. They also had opportunities to meet with the founders and CEOs of these companies to discuss cooperation plans.
Israel is a representative startup nation where research institutes, defense industries, and universities supply innovative technologies based on entrepreneurship, and the entire society fosters a culture that encourages startups.
Most startups aim for global expansion from their early stages, and currently, about 400 global companies have established R&D centers in Israel, leading investments and M&A in promising startups.
As a result, Israel is characterized by a virtuous cycle of exits and re-entrepreneurship, holding the world's third-largest number of Nasdaq-listed companies after the United States and China.
However, Israel's domestic market and manufacturing base are weak, making it difficult for large corporations to emerge, which is pointed out as a limitation.
Ygal Ehrlich, Chairman of Yozma Group, who participated in this training, explained, "If Israel's outstanding technological capabilities combine with Korea's manufacturing technology and scale-up ecosystem, tremendous synergy will be created." He added, "Through the Yozma Innovation Center, we plan to actively strengthen cooperation between the two countries by connecting Israel's promising startups with Korea's advanced manufacturing companies."
Lee Jun-hyuk, Chairman of the World Class Enterprise Association, said, "The companies belonging to the World Class Enterprise Association have strengthened the backbone of Korea's industry with growth potential and innovation, providing quality jobs. We expect this to be an opportunity to find new growth engines through direct observation of Israel's innovative technologies and promising companies and the process of mutual cooperation."
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