HD Hyundai, Philippine defense chief discuss expanding shipbuilding, defense cooperation

HD Hyundai is expanding cooperation with the Philippine government on the country's shipbuilding and defense industries, centering around the Korean company's Subic shipyard.

HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Ki-sun met with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. in Seoul on Monday to discuss ways to broaden that cooperation, the company said.

The two pointed to HD Hyundai Philippines' Subic facility starting operations last year as a turning point in industrial cooperation between the two sides. HD Hyundai recently launched the first vessel built at the facility and plans to deliver it to the shipowner next year. The company said it plans to gradually expand production capacity there as local operations progress.

The two sides also reviewed a decade of defense cooperation between HD Hyundai and the Philippines and agreed on the need to extend that cooperation to the modernization of the Philippine Navy and to strengthening the competitiveness of the country's shipbuilding industry more broadly.

"Thanks to consistent policy support and cooperation from the Philippine government and navy, we have been able to significantly strengthen the Philippine Navy's capabilities while carrying out our business stably," Chung said.

"Building on a decade of successful, trust-based expansion, we will continue to look for opportunities for long-term industrial cooperation beyond commercial vessels and warships."

HD Hyundai has received orders for 12 vessels from the Philippines to date and has delivered six of them. The company said it plans to continue cooperation on follow-up frigate projects.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]