Kumho Tire signs technology transfer agreement with Pakistan's Century

By Lim Chang-won Posted : September 27, 2018, 11:39 Updated : September 27, 2018, 11:39

[Kumho Tire]



SEOUL -- Kumho Tire, South Korea's second-largest tiremaker run by a Chinese company, signed a technology transfer agreement with Century Engineering Industries, a Pakistani battery maker.

A technology license agreement, signed in Seoul between Kumho Tire CEO Kim Jong-ho and Century CEO Jawed Siddiqui, calls for the transfer of technologies related to 28 tire products for passenger and commercial vehicles for 10 years by September 2028. The contract is renewable.

Kumho Tire said Thursday that it would receive $5 million for transferring technology and 2.5 percent of annual sales in royalties from Century, known for its battery brand "Phoenix", which has diversified its business portfolio to build a tire factory.

Kumho Tire will provide know-how from design to quality control as well as education and solutions for problems related to manufacturing. "This technology export contract is a proof that Kumho Tire, which was known as a technology leader, is still in good condition," chairman Kim Jong-ho was quoted as saying in a statement.

"We will expand our business in various ways to improve our earnings, not just in tire manufacturing, by developing technology exports as a new revenue generating model," he said.

In July, Kumho Tire was formally launched as a subsidiary of China's Doublestar. Doublestar Chairman Chai Yongsen promised to nurture Kumho Tire as a global company by combing the competitiveness of Kumho in passenger cars and the competitiveness of Doublestar in trucks and buses.

Doublestar acquired a 45-percent stake in the debt-stricken South Korean company and workers agreed to freeze their wage and reduce some work benefits.
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