Ministry of SMEs selects 24 'Carbon-neutral Smart Factories'... "Support with 3 Major Packages"

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 11th that it has selected 24 small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises specialized in building smart factories for carbon reduction.

The carbon-neutral smart factory project supports the transition to low-carbon innovative processes through smart factory technology. The support targets high carbon-emission industries such as root companies and textile companies. Through this newly established project this year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups provides a one-stop support package consisting of three essential elements for carbon neutrality: ▲ energy diagnosis and design consulting ▲ ICT (Information and Communication Technology)-based carbon reduction process innovation ▲ replacement of high-efficiency equipment.

The Ministry selected the supported companies through on-site evaluations by external experts from August to last month. When selecting, the Ministry considered factors such as ▲ carbon reduction effect ▲ excellence in process innovation ▲ scalability in similar or related industries from an industrial ecosystem perspective.

The selected companies include 13 root companies such as welding and casting, 6 textile companies, and 5 automobile-related companies, totaling 24 companies. The Ministry supports up to 70 million KRW per company for digitalization of production information and up to 200 million KRW for real-time information collection and analysis, depending on the smart factory construction goals of each factory. If eco-friendly equipment is introduced, follow-up linked support of up to 10 billion KRW can be received through loans via the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, the project operating institution, allowing investment in the entire process.

Meanwhile, from next year, the Ministry plans to expand the target industries to the entire root industry and significantly increase the related project budget. It also intends to systematically utilize and manage the project by introducing specialized indicators diagnosing energy efficiency improvements.

Park Jongchan, Head of the Smart Manufacturing Innovation Planning Group at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "We will fully support ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management as a pillar so that carbon neutrality, which has emerged as a global issue, does not become a new burden for manufacturing SMEs."