According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) announced on May 22 that Korea ranked 6th for science infrastructure and 8th for technology infrastructure globally.

According to a 2014 report by Switzerland’s International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Korea’s scientific infrastructure competitiveness rose a notch, from 5th to 6th – Korea’s highest ranking in the IMD evaluation, which consists of four fields and 20 items.

Korea’s technological infrastructure competitiveness rose to 8th from last year’s 5th, which is the third-highest rank among 20 items.

The IMD has been issuing competitiveness rankings of 60 countries and policies to increase government efficiency in the first half of every year since 1989.

Korea’s global competitiveness ranking fell four notches to 26th, while national competitiveness for scientific infrastructure rose in general.

“On the basis of the IMD evaluation, the ministry will strengthen industry-academic cooperation and support for small- and medium-sized companies through plans for creative and innovative R&D, plans to innovate engineering colleges and contract promotion strategies,” said Choi Mun-kee, Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

“The ministry also plans to advance the management system for intellectual property (creation, utilization and protection) and enhance the competitiveness of scientific technology by improving regulations that hamper scientific and technological innovation,” he said.