President Moon Jae-in, who is on a state visit to Australia, met with Australian businesspeople on Tuesday to discuss expanding cooperation in key minerals between the two countries.

The meeting came a day after the Korean and Australian industry ministries signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the core mineral supply chain.

It was attended by Simon Crean, the chair of the Australia-Korea Business Council, Ian Gandel, non-executive chairman of Australian Strategic Materials, Stephen Grocott, managing director at Queensland Pacific Metals, Joe Kaderavek, CEO of Cobalt Blue, and Tom Seymour, chief executive officer of PwC Australia.

Moon told the businesspeople he hopes to expand cooperation between Australia, which has abundant core minerals such as nickel, cobalt and lithium, and Korea, which has a high demand for core minerals in secondary batteries and electric vehicles, according to the statement released by Cheong Wa Dae.

He also evaluated the progress of various cooperation such as supply contracts and investments between companies in the two countries, saying he would strengthen cooperation between governments to support the efforts of these entrepreneurs.

Australian entrepreneurs said they hoped to expand cooperation with Korean companies in the future, emphasizing that the logistics system between the two countries has been smooth for a long time in the field of mineral resources, according to the Korean presidential office.

“The importance of new energy technology in responding to climate change is expected to grow further and the demand for key minerals essential to realizing it is expected to surge,” Cheong Wa Dae said. “The meeting was held as a preemptive response to secure the supply chain of key minerals stably.”