A forum on advanced industry investment attraction was held with France, a leading country in advanced industries within the EU.
France, home to the most unicorn companies in the EU, is accelerating the development of future industries such as AI
The forum introduced opportunities for cooperation in Korea’s future industries and joint R&D, highlighting the investment attractiveness of Korea to French leading companies.

The investment forum for future industry cooperation between Korea and France was held in Paris on September 19 (local time). The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Kim Jung-kwan) and KOTRA (President Kang Kyung-sung) announced that they opened a platform for investment and technology cooperation in AI, carbon neutrality, future vehicles, and aerospace in France, one of Europe’s leading manufacturing and future industry powerhouses along with Germany.

Over 100 executives and officials from France's advanced industry companies and institutions attended the forum and expressed interest in collaborating with Korea, an advanced industry powerhouse in Asia. Following presentations on Korea's industrial policy direction, investment environment, and examples of investment-technology cooperation between the two countries, they also paid attention to the investment expansion case of Valeo, a French representative company that entered Korea.

Valeo, which entered Korea in the late 1990s, expanded its business into the future vehicle sector by establishing an autonomous vehicle parts plant in Daegu in 2022 as well as production, R&D and sales. It has also contributed significantly to the local community by collaborating with Yeungnam University and Yeungnam University College, as well as Meister high schools for employment-linked industry-academia cooperation to train talent. It is considered an excellent example of foreign investment.

MOTIE presented Korea's industrial policy trends, including the AI transition in manufacturing, the creation of a national growth fund to promote investment in advanced strategic industries, and the cultivation of the materials, parts, and equipment industries through demand-supply collaboration between companies. The Ministry emphasized the need for strategic investment cooperation with French advanced technology companies in the highly sophisticated global industrial value chain.

Invest KOREA highlighted five promising fields for Korea-France investment and technology cooperation: AI, semiconductors, clean energy, future vehicles, and aerospace. KIAT (Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology) and KETEP (Korea Institute of Energy Technology uation and Planning) also presented joint overseas R&D cases and suggested practical cooperation plans.

Commissioner Kim Tae-hyung of Invest KOREA stated, "Korea and France, as industrial powerhouses representing Europe and Asia in AI, carbon neutrality, and future vehicles, have many opportunities for win-win cooperation through investment and technology collaboration. I hope this forum has provided an opportunity for French companies, leaders in AI and ESG management, to recognize Korea's value as a key global strategy hub. We will now focus on concretizing and implementing our cooperation blueprint."



Source: Invest KOREA (2025.09.22.)