Delegation from South Korea to Slovakia

The delegation of entrepreneurs and representatives of academia from South Korea visited Slovakia from May 28 to June 2, 2023.

Under the auspices of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO), the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Seoul, and the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Korea in Slovakia, representatives of Korean companies and universities in the field of robotics and automation had the opportunity to become more familiar with the university and corporate environment in Slovakia.

The delegation consisted of representatives of eight Korean robotics companies and institutions (Hanhwa Aerospace, Doosan Robotics, Neuromeka, Daliworks, Curexo, Brils, Rifa Asset Management, Vrillar) and one representative of a Korean technical university (Yonsei University). The delegation visited technical universities in Bratislava, Žilina, and Košice, while also visiting important Slovak companies specifically in the field of automation and robotization.

During the mission, dozens of B2B negotiations and several meetings between the academic and scientific-research community were carried out, at which modalities of future cooperation were agreed upon. e.g., the preparation of a document on mutual cooperation (MOU) between STUBA and Yonsei University, primarily at the level of scientific-technical cooperation.

Korean universities and institutes have shown a great interest in the mobility of Slovak students and doctoral students to Korean technical universities (on the basis of the submitted mobility project pre-negotiated with the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic and subsequently also with the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Slovak Republic).

The result of the targeted support of universities in the training of robotics specialists should be top experts in the field of mechatronics, technologists, designers of production processes, and IT specialists with a focus on robotics, stabilized for the Slovak labor market with the help of scholarships, development opportunities, business grants, and non-refundable student loans.

The visits of representatives of the delegation to the companies KIA Motors, Matador Púchov, Spinea, and Photoneo confirmed the necessity of personal meetings and the establishment of direct contacts due to the real solution of potential joint projects.

The business mission was organized in accordance with the proposed plan of the Concept of Robotic Cooperation between the Republic of Slovakia and the Republic of Korea with the aim of achieving the systematic development of Industry 4.0 (robotics connected to robotics and artificial intelligence — AI) in Slovakia.