Invest KOREA

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) In order to achieve a creative economy, the government will invest KRW 100 trillion in new growth industries and provide technology financing to start-ups and small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) by establishing finance zones for creative economy innovation centers around the country.

The government will build a creative economy valley for the games industry in Pangyo, home to many ICT ventures, and a high-tech start-up campus in Teheranno to support the initial stages of start-ups.

It will also transform 2,400 domestic demand companies into export companies by nurturing trade and technology experts and increase the exports of SMEs to 35 percent in 2015.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, the Korea Communications Commission, the Financial Services Commission and the Small and Medium Business Administration reported their major business plans for 2015 to President Park Geun-hye on January 15 to achieve a dynamic innovative economy.

"A country can only develop when innovation is carried out at the right time. The core of an innovative economy is indeed the realization of a creative economy, and we cannot achieve a creative economy when we overlook the different conditions of each region, including human resources, major industries and technology development," emphasized Park.

To promote a creative financial ecosystem that consists of a start-up→growth→recovery→re-challenge process, the government will invest KRW 3 trillion in the start-up industry for funds, including a growth ladder fund and fund of funds, and establish a creative economy innovation center fund worth KRW 600 billion, which is related to the creative economy innovation centers.

For the “growth” part, the government will support a total of KRW 180 trillion of policy financing that includes KRW 100 trillion for promising service industries including SW, contents, healthcare and medical services, culture, education and logistics; and new growth industries including smart cars, 5G mobile communication, intelligent semiconductor, big data and wearable smart devices.

Finance zones will be established at the innovation centers so that the staff at policy financing institutions can stay at the centers to provide a one-stop service that includes legal, technological, marketing, overseas expansion and technology financing services, to start-ups and SMEs.

In preparation for the effectuation of the Korea-China free trade agreement (FTA), a “China desk” will be set up at the Korea International Trade Association to support trade affairs with China.

Also, the government plans to reach USD 600 billion in exports and USD 20 billion in foreign investment in 2015 by making the best use of the FTAs with the United States and EU.

aupfe@yna.co.kr

Copyrights Yonhap News. All Rights Reserved.

Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (January. 14, 2015)

** This article was translated from the Korean.