Officials from global automakers Mercedes-Benz and Ford are in South Korea in search of the latest technology and auto parts that will help them in their development of next generation vehicles, a local trade agency said Wednesday.

Nine officials from Mercedes-Benz and five others from Ford Motor Co. will be joined by representatives from some 100 South Korean automotive firms until Friday for one-on-one business meetings and joint seminars, according to the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.

The five-day event, which began Monday, is part of an annual program hosted by KOTRA, Global Partnering, which has often led to actual business deals in the past.

Gregory Hamel, a Ford director in charge of business strategy and indirect purchasing, has said the event offered a great chance to meet "new outstanding potential suppliers," according to KOTRA.

Jochen Schaefers, an official from Mercedes-Benz, said his company was especially interested in finding global partners for batteries, displays, telematics and infotainment systems, also adding the firm planned to continue expanding its auto parts supplies from South Korea.

South Korea is the world's fifth-largest automaking nation by output, with five automakers and thousands of suppliers producing over 10 million vehicles per year.

"We will continue to expand the global partnering program to help expand outbound shipments of the country's advanced auto parts makers, and also help them find global partners for joint research and development projects," KOTRA said in a press release. (Yonhap)