TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) renewed a memorandum of cooperation with the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) for battery and communication technologies on Friday (July 4).

According to an NSTC press release, the agreement was signed by NSTC Department of International Cooperation and Science Education Director Yeh Chih-cheng (葉至誠) and SSF CEO Lars Hultman.

The bilateral efforts will cover research areas such as solid-state lead-free lithium batteries, next-generation wireless communication antenna technology, and advanced gallium nitride (GaN) devices for communication, the agency explained, per CNA.

NSTC Deputy Minister Chen Bing-yu (陳炳宇) said Sweden is one of the world’s most innovative nations, playing a leadership role in many fields, especially in sustainability, which Taiwan can learn from.

The NSTC said Hultman’s visit to Taiwan fully demonstrates the importance attached to the cooperation between the two countries. During his visit, Hultman will also meet with academic and research institutions, including the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs) and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), to strengthen research cooperation.

The agency first signed a technology agreement with the SSF in August of 2019 and conducted a joint call for proposals, reported CNA. In 2020, six groups and 14 bilateral research projects were jointly approved, involving 14 Taiwanese scholars and 23 Swedish scientists working together.