In late November and early December 2023, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada was pleased the lead Smarter Living: The Canadian Women-only Business Mission to South Korea and Thailand. The Mission, part of the Foundation’s 2023-2025 mission series, Northeast X Southeast: Advancing Partnerships Between Canada and Asia, marked the seventh mission of APF Canada’s Women’s Business Missions to Asia Series and focused on the cleantech, health tech, and ICT sectors.  

The six-day Mission (Bangkok, Nov. 26-28 and Seoul, Nov. 29-Dec. 1) supported 21 Canadian delegates through 216 business-to-business (B2B) meetings with Asian partners and engagement with 336 companies and organizations in South Korea and Thailand. A big success from the mission was the signing of MoUs between Lydia AI, a leading Canadian health AI company, with Hecto Data and Tobecon, two prominent South Korean technology companies. These collaborations will amplify the market potential of AI-enhanced solutions in the health-care and insurance sectors.  

Successful outcomes for The Canadian Women-only Business Mission to South Korea and Thailand are expected to continue, with more than 75 per cent of B2B connections in South Korea resulting in interest to form subsequent Canada-Asia partnerships and more than 90 per cent of B2B connections in Bangkok registering similar interest, including a Canadian delegate from the edutech sector currently in advanced negotiations for an acquisition in Thailand as a result of the Mission.