Rail industry supply chain competitiveness to be strengthened through expanded financial support and joint overseas expansion for partner companies

National Assembly lawmakers, representatives from 50 partner companies and Hyundai Rotem officials pose for a group photo at the 2026 Hyundai Rotem Rail Solution Co-Growth Conference, held Thursday at the company's factory in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. [Hyundai Rotem]
National Assembly lawmakers, representatives from 50 partner companies and Hyundai Rotem officials pose for a group photo at the 2026 Hyundai Rotem Rail Solution Co-Growth Conference, held Thursday at the company's factory in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. [Hyundai Rotem]

Hyundai Rotem held the 2026 Hyundai Rotem Rail Solution Co-Growth Conference at its factory in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday, unveiling a strategy to expand financial support for partner companies and broaden joint overseas expansion efforts, the company announced Friday.

The company said the event was organized to strengthen a sustainable growth foundation with its partners and foster an innovative rail industry ecosystem. Local constituency lawmakers, representatives from 50 partner companies and Hyundai Rotem executives and employees attended.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Heo Seong-mu said each of the thousands of components that go into a single railcar carries the technology and effort of partner companies. "I will ensure that the upcoming KTX-I full replacement project moves forward in a way that protects and nurtures the domestic technology and parts ecosystem, and I will carefully oversee improvements to the bidding system and rail industry support legislation in the relevant committee," he said.

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jong-yang said Hyundai Rotem and its partners are building a forest together — a reference to the saying that no single tree can form a forest alone. "I will do my utmost to strengthen the global competitiveness of K-rail," he said.

Hyundai Rotem President and CEO Lee Yong-bae said in his welcoming remarks that the company and its partners had achieved meaningful results, including the first overseas export of high-speed rail and entry into the Vietnam metro market. "To establish ourselves as a global rail powerhouse, all members of the rail industry must unite as one community of shared destiny," he said. He added that the conference was an occasion to raise the competitiveness of South Korea's rail ecosystem and unveil a co-innovation strategy to be carried out together with partner companies.

To support a virtuous cycle within the domestic rail ecosystem, Hyundai Rotem will more than double its co-growth fund — from the existing 70 billion won (about $51 million) to a total of 150 billion won this year — to help partner companies benefit from reduced interest rates.

The company also signed mutual-growth financial agreements with Shinhan Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea to provide trade finance, guarantees and preferential interest rates to support partners entering global markets. Annual research and development investment, which previously averaged around 28 billion won, will be sharply increased to 86 billion won to lay the groundwork for revitalizing the domestic market.

Hyundai Rotem is also working to bolster the global technological competitiveness of its partners. The company has already taken partners into overseas markets — localizing mechanical equipment on the Queensland, Australia electric multiple unit supply project and localizing electrical components for the Los Angeles Metro project. Since developing its first power-concentrated high-speed vehicle in 1996, Hyundai Rotem has built high-speed rail manufacturing expertise through ongoing technical collaboration with partners, and plans to actively support joint global growth on future overseas projects as well.

The company will also expand education programs for partner company employees through its specialized technical training institute. The institute offers tailored training covering quality control, production and design, as well as AI applications and work automation to meet the demands of a rapidly changing industrial environment, helping partners improve their technical capabilities and job expertise. More than 6,500 partner company employees are expected to receive training this year.

Hyundai Rotem will also focus on strengthening technology protection for its partners, providing security licenses free of charge to help them build cybersecurity systems, along with expert consulting that includes proprietary technology security assessments and improvement recommendations.

"Partner companies are Hyundai Rotem's most important allies and a core pillar of the rail industry's competitiveness," a company official said. "We will continue to expand our culture of mutual cooperation with partners and provide unwavering support so that K-rail can secure a competitive edge in the global market."

Meanwhile, Hyundai Rotem held the 2026 Hyundai Rotem Defense Co-Growth Conference at the same Changwon factory in March, where it unveiled a K-defense co-growth strategy to support partners in localizing components and conducting research and development on next-generation advanced weapons systems.


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