The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) in Korea announced that Minister Oh Young-ju and Tony Hemmelgarn, CEO of Siemens Digital Industries Software (Siemens DISW), met on the 11th to explore strategies for enhancing collaboration within the startup sector.

The MSS has been partnering with Siemens DISW since 2021 on the ‘Mediterranean’ program, a global corporate collaboration initiative aimed at identifying and fostering promising manufacturing startups. This program has supported approximately 20 companies annually. In 2022, the Korea Institution of Startups and Entrepreneurship (KISED) and Siemens DISW further solidified their partnership by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to manage the global corporate collaboration program.

During their meeting, Minister Oh and CEO Hemmelgarn reviewed the successes of the ‘Mediterranean’ program and discussed plans to expand future cooperation. They agreed to increase the program’s support to about 25 companies from this year and to enhance the global competencies of the participating startups through a connection with Siemens DISW headquarters. Siemens DISW also proposed launching a specialized program that utilizes Siemens’ engineering software at national technical high schools under the MSS.

With the previous MOU having expired, KISED and Siemens DISW renewed their agreement, incorporating additional support for startup marketing and networking.

Minister Oh stated, “The ‘Mediterranean’ program represents one of the MSS’s flagship initiatives for the globalization of startups through public-private collaboration, achieving remarkable success over the years. With the MOU renewal between KISED and Siemens DISW, we look forward to further strengthening our collaborative efforts with Siemens DISW in the startup arena.”