Mokpo City Launches 'Seafood Product Development' Contest... Full-Scale Effort to Strengthen Seafood Competitiveness

600 Million Invested to Support 15 Companies... Applications Open Until the 17th

Exterior view of Mokpo Fisheries Food Center. Photo by Mokpo City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jeong Seunghyun] Mokpo City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Kim Jongsik) announced on the 8th that it plans to invest 600 million KRW in the development of high-quality seafood products and processing technologies to strengthen the export competitiveness of seafood manufacturing companies and foster the seafood processing industry, selecting 15 companies.

The application period is until the 17th, and submissions are to be made at the executing organization, the Mokpo Seafood Food Center Foundation.

The target participants are seafood food companies with headquarters, factories, or business sites in Mokpo City as of the application deadline. Two programs will be promoted: a new product development support program for export-strengthening companies with sales of 1 billion KRW or more, and a processing technology advancement and on-site technical difficulty support program for startups within 3 years and companies with sales under 1 billion KRW. Selected companies will receive project funding ranging from 20 million KRW to a maximum of 50 million KRW.

To favor export companies, additional points will be awarded to companies with export plans targeting the four major export regions?North America, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and Europe?upon verification of supporting documents. The final project companies will be selected through a written evaluation, on-site corporate investigation, and a final face-to-face evaluation.

Selected companies will receive 70% of the project funds in advance to carry out the project by October, and upon submission and verification of performance results, will receive the remaining funds.

Detailed information can be found in the announcements posted on the Mokpo City website and the Mokpo Seafood Food Support Center Foundation website.

A city official stated, “We hope this project will help increase sales and exports of companies struggling due to the economic downturn caused by COVID-19,” and added, “We will strive to promote policies for fostering seafood food companies and providing systematic support.”