Austria and South Korea strengthen scientific collaboration
Austria and South Korea have signed a declaration on intensifying collaboration between universities and technical colleges within current university networks. The agreement was signed at the end of a bilateral summit in South Korea, during a visit by the Austrian President Heinz Fischer. Mr Fischer has become the first Austrian head of state to visit South Korea since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1963. Bilateral trade exceeded USD 1.5 billion (€1.1 billion) in 2006. The joint declaration covers collaboration within networks such as the Eurasia-Pacific Uninet, and discussions also touched upon the exchange of researchers, joint advisory services, and researcher secondments. Both parties are hoping that closer collaboration will lead to joint conferences and Science Days in South Korea and Austria. The next stage will be to nominate contact persons in the respective ministries to implement the agreement. Future talks are expected to then address the further development of this new declaration, as well as potential joint projects and programmes. If all goes to plan, the Joint Declaration will be upgraded to a Scientific and Technical Agreement in three years from now.
Countries
Austria, South Korea