POSCO Group Chairman Chang In-hwa said on the 17th that he hoped Korea and Australia would look for solutions to move toward a sustainable future by broadening the scope of core cooperation beyond expanding economic and industrial investment to include regional co-prosperity, industrial safety, and disaster response, and by strengthening solidarity.
Chairperson Chang made the remarks while attending the 46th joint meeting of the Korea-Australia Economic Cooperation Committee held in Yeouido, Seoul, that day as the Korean-side Chairperson. The meeting that day focused on ways to strengthen the sustainability of industrial innovation in Korea and Australia.
Cooperation plans on the timely tasks of the two countries—including critical minerals and clean energy as well as safety and disasters—were discussed. The meeting drew 200 political and business figures from both countries, including Chairperson Chang; Martin Ferguson, Chairperson of the Korea-Australia Economic Cooperation Committee; Park Jong-won, assistant minister for trade policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; and Jeff Robinson, Australian ambassador to Korea.
At this year's joint meeting, in particular, cooperation plans in five areas were discussed: critical mineral supply chains, clean energy, AI (artificial intelligence) ecosystem innovation, industrial safety, and disaster response. AI-based industrial safety and disaster response were placed on the agenda as a special item, and discussions were held to seek a cooperation model.
POSCO Group introduced a new social contribution project plan to strengthen disaster response capabilities during the industrial safety and disaster response session. It said it would push projects such as disaster simulation training, improvements to evacuation facilities, and support for firefighting equipment by benchmarking the advanced disaster response system and accumulated know-how of New South Wales, Australia, which has experience overcoming large wildfires.
In the critical mineral supply chain session, successful collaboration cases between the two countries were shared, including POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution, which brings Australian lithium ore feedstock into Korea to produce lithium hydroxide for secondary battery materials, and the activities of the "Australia Critical Resources Research Institute," POSCO Group's first overseas resource-specialized research institute.