KIAT Urgently Provides 10 Billion KRW Commercialization Vouchers to SMEs in Daegu and Gyeongbuk

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) is urgently providing commercialization vouchers worth 10 billion KRW to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Daegu and Gyeongbuk.

On the 2nd, KIAT announced that it will expand the 'Regional Enterprise Innovation Growth Voucher Support Project' for SMEs in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk areas to overcome the damage caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

This project, overseen by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, is a commercialization support program that allows regional companies to select necessary services such as prototype production, consulting, design, technology transfer, intellectual property rights, certification, and marketing within the voucher limit.

The support targets SMEs in the main industries and related upstream and downstream industries of the respective regions, with support available up to 30 million KRW per company (with a 10% company contribution). In Daegu, the main industries include medical healthcare, distributed energy, and advanced materials and components, while in Gyeongbuk, the main industries include intelligent digital devices, high-tech molding processing, bio-beauty, and functional textiles.

With this supplementary budget allocation, the number of Daegu and Gyeongbuk companies eligible for commercialization support has been expanded fourfold from the original 100 to 400.

KIAT plans to expedite procedures such as company selection and evaluation.

The required business plan for application has been simplified from about 20 pages to within 2 pages. The selection process has been shortened to a single written evaluation. In the future, when confirming the results of the supported services, on-site inspections will replace result evaluations to ensure prompt support.

The recruitment of companies benefiting from the Innovation Growth Voucher will be conducted under the supervision of Daegu Technopark (TP) and Gyeongbuk Technopark (TP), and applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the support funds are exhausted.

For more details, please check the Regional Industry Comprehensive Information System (http://www.rips.or.kr) and the project announcements on Daegu TP (www.ttp.org) and Gyeongbuk TP (www.gbtp.or.kr).