Seoul, Aug 26
HD Hyundai, South Korea's leading shipbuilding conglomerate, said on Tuesday it has signed an initial agreement to create a joint investment programme aimed at rebuilding the US shipbuilding industry, as part of bilateral cooperation between Seoul and Washington.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed in Washington on Monday (U.S. time) by HD Hyundai, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and U.S. investment firm Cerberus Capital, according to HD Hyundai, reports Yonhap news agency.
The signing ceremony was arranged by South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the U.S. Department of Commerce, and it followed President Lee Jae Myung's bilateral summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.
HD Hyundai Executive Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun attended the event with South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
HD Hyundai said the initiative, part of the "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again" (MASGA) program first mentioned in last month's tariff deal, is designed to strengthen U.S. and allied naval capabilities, as well as marine logistics infrastructure.