SOAS and Hyundai Motor Group launch new centres for research on low-income countries
SOAS University of London has announced a collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group who together are launching two new centres to explore dialogue and research.
Hyundai will fund the establishment of the Institute of Development Leadership Dialogue (DLD), a forum for discourse between the leaders of the development community, as well as the Centre for Sustainable Structural Transformation (CSST), a research centre focusing on structural transformation in an age of climate crisis.
An opening ceremony was held for the DLD at the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre on 18 October, attended by Gyun Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Intelligence Institute; Heung-Soo Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Strategy Office (GSO); Ashley Andrew, President of Hyundai Motor UK; and Paul Philpott, President of Kia UK.
At the event, Director of SOAS Professor Adam Habib said: “SOAS currently has a new strategic agenda at the heart of which is our mission to serve as a bridge to the world. This necessitates knowledge systems to interact with each other, and institutional partnerships across transcontinental and sectoral boundaries. We think that this sponsorship enables training and learning on a thematic issue that is central to the sustainability of our world.”
Heung-Soo Kim, Hyundai’s Executive Vice President and Head of Global Strategy Office, said: “Hyundai Motor Group has a clear vision of making progress for humanity. Through this partnership, we hope to create opportunities to discuss and collaborate with African countries on ways to improve industries in Africa.
The DLD will be co-directed by a team of SOAS academics: Professor Ha-Joon Chang, Professor Christopher Cramer and Dr Jonathan Di John. The institute will be a space not only for dialogue among politicians, scholars, and business leaders, but also a platform for collaboration among actors with different perspectives with the aim of generating more effective strategies for developing regions, including Africa. Moreover, the organisation plans to foster future leaders of low income countries by running programs targeting potential champions in government and business.
Professor Ha-Joon Chang and Professor Antonio Andreoni from the SOAS Department of Economics will co-direct the CSST. The centre , which is scheduled to open in February 2024, will conduct path-breaking research in developing countries, especially those in Africa, to inform structural transformation and economic diversification strategies that are environmentally and socially sustainable. CSST will focus on four inter-linked research and policy streams: energy transition, mineral resources, reorganization of the international supply chain, and construction of new infrastructure. CSST will also advance concrete proposals on how private sector firms, including Hyundai Motor Group, and governments can coordinate their efforts towards new industrial pathways for sustainable prosperity.
“The Group will leverage its leading technologies and know-how in various fields, such as hydrogen fuel cells, energy, mobility and construction, to lead long-lasting relationships with African countries.” said Heung-Soo Kim, Hyundai’s Executive Vice President and Head of Global Strategy Office.