Visit to Kristiansand and Arendal, Norway... Establishing Strategic Partnerships
Nordic Delegation and Overseas Market Development Team to Strengthen Global Networking
Pohang City visited Kristiansand and Arendal in Norway, cities with similar industrial conditions, from the 21st to the 22nd, and sought to establish strategic cooperative relationships.
The Pohang City delegation visiting Norway toured the site of energy storage system (ESS) manufacturer Pixii on the 21st and took a commemorative photo.
The two cities, located along the southern coast of Norway, have a concentration of companies related to secondary batteries, including nickel raw materials, anode materials, and energy storage systems (ESS).
On the 21st, the Norwegian delegation visited Vianode, a synthetic graphite anode material manufacturer, and Pixii, an ESS manufacturer, to tour their facilities.
Kristiansand, the capital of Agder County, has a battery research cluster. The delegation visited the University of Agder within the cluster, where they met with Vice President Goril Hannes and battery faculty members to discuss ways to cooperate among industry, academia, and research institutes.
The delegation introduced Pohang's research environment, including the world-class scholars at POSTECH and the fourth-generation synchrotron accelerator, and agreed to benchmark the University of Agder's battery education curriculum. Both cities will work together to develop various ways to link their secondary battery industry ecosystems.
On the 22nd, the delegation visited the Morrow gigafactory site to tour the production facilities, promote local secondary battery materials and components companies, and explore opportunities for business cooperation.
They also visited the Agder County Council and Arendal City Hall, where they held a meeting with Arne Thomassen, Chairman of Agder County Council, and Robert Cornels Nordli, Mayor of Arendal.
During the meeting, the delegation delivered a personal letter from Pohang Mayor Lee Kangdeok and continued discussions on ways to promote friendly exchanges and cooperation.
At the meeting, both sides agreed to actively cooperate in the following areas: ▲Industrial sector ? forming a joint community for pioneering the global secondary battery market and building corporate partnerships ▲Human and academic sector ? global exchange and cooperation between business clusters and industry-academia-research institutions in Pohang ▲Tourism sector ? mutual exchange of major local events such as various festivals and conferences, and sharing of tourism resources ▲Other cultural and private exchange events.
Robert Cornels Nordli, Mayor of Arendal, said, "Last May, Pohang City visited Norway and worked to facilitate exchanges between Morrow and Pohang battery companies. I hope this visit by Pohang City marks the beginning of a close connection between our municipalities as well as between companies, and we will positively consider signing a friendship city agreement in the future."
Starting with this exchange, Pohang City plans to form and dispatch a Nordic delegation and overseas market development team centered on the Pohang Secondary Battery Business Council to local conferences and expos in Northern Europe, and to invite them to city-hosted events such as the Pohang International Fireworks Festival and Pohang International Conference to continue global networking in the secondary battery sector.
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