Renault S.A. has partnered with a
South Korean association so it can work
with startups with advanced mobile technology expertise for the development of
next-generation vehicles.
Before setting up an "open innovation
office" in South Korea next month, the
French carmaker signed a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) with the K-ICT
Born2Global Centre, an organization set
up under the Ministry of Science and ICT
to foster startups, Renault Samsung
Motors Corp.
"Korea, with a high automotive sales
rate compared to population and
advanced information technologies and
environments, is the ideal test bed market
for new technologies before launching
them at the global level," Renault Group
Executive Director Stephen Marvin said
in a statement.
Through the MOU with the K-Global
startup center, Renault will be able to discover promising companies that can
work with Renault while providing active
support so that they can enter overseas
markets following validation in the
domestic market, he said.
Global investment giant Goldman
Sachs has invested USD 30 million in
local bakery ingredients maker Sun-in
Co., amid the rapid expansion of the
Global credit rating agency Fitch
Ratings reaffirmed South Korea' sovereign credit rating at AA- with a stable
outlook. It is the fifth straight year for the
credit rating agency to keep Korea's sovereign debt rating at AA-.
The agency pointed out the escalating
tensions in the region weighing on ratings but also stated that "strains on the
Korean peninsula are not new, and have
followed a familiar pattern of rise-and-
fall cycles in the past."
It predicted the Korean economy to
keep up the strong growth pace with
GDP growth potential of 2.7 percent for
2017, 2.8 percent for 2018 and 2.6 percent for 2019.