OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada and Japan on Thursday agreed to work more closely together to establishing sustainable and reliable global battery supply chains, the Canadian government said in a statement.
The two sides signed a memorandum of cooperation on the supply chains during a visit by Japanese Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, it said, but gave no details.
Canada, home to a large mining sector for minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, wants to woo firms involved in all levels of the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain via a multibillion-dollar green technology.
“As worldwide demand shifts increasingly towards cleaner forms of energy, Canada’s critical minerals resources and battery supply chains will play a vital role in how we get there,” said Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.
Earlier this month a unit of South Korea’s Solus Advanced Materials said it would will build a copper foil facility in the province of Quebec, producing technology for EV batteries.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
