Hyundai Rotem is launching a cooperation program with its partners to promote the growth of the K-rail industry.
On June 11, Hyundai Rotem held the '2026 Hyundai Rotem Rail Solution Cooperation Conference' at its Changwon plant in Gyeongnam, where it announced strategies to enhance financial support for partners and expand joint ventures abroad.
The event aimed to strengthen the foundation for sustainable growth with partners and create an innovative ecosystem in the rail industry. Attendees included local lawmakers, representatives from 50 partner companies, and Hyundai Rotem employees.
Democratic Party lawmaker Heo Seong-moo stated, "Every single component in a train car reflects the technology and hard work of our partner companies. We will ensure that the upcoming KTX-I replacement project supports and nurtures the domestic technology and parts ecosystem, and I will closely monitor improvements to the bidding system and legislative support for the rail industry in our committee."
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jong-yang remarked, "A tree cannot make a forest alone, but Hyundai Rotem and its partners are building a forest together. We will do our utmost to enhance the global competitiveness of K-rail."
Hyundai Rotem CEO Lee Yong-bae emphasized in his welcoming speech that, following the recent overseas export of high-speed trains, the company has achieved significant success by entering the Vietnamese metro market. He stressed the need for all members of the rail industry to unite as a community of shared destiny to establish themselves as a global rail powerhouse.
Hyundai Rotem plans to elevate the competitiveness of South Korea's rail ecosystem through this conference.
To promote a virtuous cycle within the rail ecosystem, the company will expand its funding support. The size of the cooperative growth fund, which was previously around 70 billion won, will be increased to a total of 150 billion won this year, more than doubling the amount to support interest rate reductions for partners.
In collaboration with Shinhan Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Hyundai Rotem will sign a cooperative finance agreement to provide trade finance, guarantees, and preferential interest rates to assist in global market entry. The company's research and development investment, previously at 28 billion won, will also see a significant increase to 86 billion won to stimulate the domestic market.
Hyundai Rotem is also committed to enhancing the global technological competitiveness of its partners. The company has previously collaborated with partners to enter overseas markets, such as establishing mechanical equipment for the Queensland electric train supply project in Australia and localizing electrical components for the LA Metro project in the United States. Since developing concentrated-power high-speed trains in 1996, Hyundai Rotem has secured expertise in high-speed train manufacturing through technical cooperation with partners and plans to actively support their global growth in upcoming overseas projects.
The company will also expand training for partner employees through its internal technical training center. The center will offer tailored education in areas such as quality, production, and design, as well as in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to meet the demands of the rapidly changing industrial landscape. This year, more than 6,500 employees from partner companies are expected to receive training.
Hyundai Rotem will focus on strengthening the protection of partner technologies. The company will provide free security licenses to help establish security systems for partners, as well as offer specialized consulting services for technical security assessments and improvement measures.
Additionally, the event included a ceremony for delivering policy proposals from partners aimed at protecting the domestic high-speed rail component industry and enhancing global export competitiveness.
Representatives from component industry partners presented policy proposals reflecting on-site opinions to strengthen the competitiveness of the rail industry supply chain. The proposals included suggestions for strengthening bidding qualifications for verified technology and improving the bidding evaluation system based on technological capabilities.
Hyundai Rotem plans to continue building a sustainable growth foundation with its partners to contribute to the expansion of the rail ecosystem.
A Hyundai Rotem official stated, "Partners are important allies and the core of the rail industry's competitiveness. We will continue to expand our culture of cooperation with partners to ensure that K-rail can secure competitiveness in the global market."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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