The Prime Minister today praised the work of leading Australian technology company Cochlear and a Korean surgeon in assisting the hearing impaired.
The Prime Minister made the comments while visiting Asan Medical Centre in Seoul, a leading centre for conducting Cochlear implants.
At the centre, the Prime Minister presented a plaque from the Australian Embassy in the Republic of Korea to Professor Lee Kwang-sun, who has personally undertaken more than 400 Cochlear implant operations.
Almost 3000 people in Korea have received Cochlear implants, around 60 per cent of them children. Cochlear established a direct presence in Korea in April this year (2008). The implants are used by children and adults with a severe to profound hearing loss and who do not benefit from other hearing aids.
The Prime Minister said Cochlear was an example of a leading Australian company successfully taking innovative technology to the world.
Exports of elaborately transformed manufactures and Australian investment are both growth areas in Australia's important trade relationship with Korea. In 2007, Australian merchandise exports to Koreas were worth $13.5 billion - the most significant of these resource and energy commodities, but increasingly also finished products.