"Fostering 100 Root Industry Startup Companies by 2027"

Promotion of R&D Dedicated to the 400 Billion Won Scale Root Industry

The government has decided to nurture 100 promising new startups in the root industry and strengthen support by 2027 to transform the root industry, the foundation of manufacturing, into a high value-added advanced industry.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the 'K-Root Industry Advancement Strategy' at Difarmstech, a global root company, chaired by Minister Lee Chang-yang. The root industry is the foundation of manufacturing, including casting, mold, and welding. The root industry consists of 14 technological areas: six core processes (casting, mold, plastic working, heat treatment, surface treatment, welding), four material diversification processes (injection press, precision machining, additive manufacturing, industrial films and paper), and four intelligent processes (robots, sensors, industrial intelligent software, engineering design).

According to the 'K-Root Industry Advancement Strategy,' the Ministry plans to fully implement tasks such as ▲restructuring the root industry ecosystem by nurturing 100 promising new startups in the root new industry by 2027, ▲strengthening the innovation ecosystem with dedicated R&D worth 400 billion KRW for the root industry, and ▲building alliances between demand industries like automobiles and semiconductors and the root industry to enhance cooperation for root industry advancement. To focus on nurturing next-generation root new industries, three strategic areas?companies, investment, and systems?have been set with respective tasks: ▲promoting entry into the root new industry, ▲activating advanced investment in the root industry, and ▲strengthening cooperation systems for root industry advancement.

The root industry, which agreed on a business agreement to launch the Root Industry Federation Preparatory Committee, plans to build a private-led root alliance encompassing 14 independently operated associations and organizations, promoting convergence and fusion of root technologies such as material diversification and ICT integration. Additionally, the root industry and demand sectors such as automobiles, machinery, and shipbuilding will strengthen cooperation through a 'Business Agreement for Win-Win Cooperation between the Root Industry and Demand Industries' by discovering core items, promoting commercialization linked to demand, and jointly planning win-win programs such as establishing a co-investment fund.

Minister Lee Chang-yang said in his opening remarks, “The K-Root Industry Advancement Strategy is a blueprint for our root industry to transform into an advanced industry and achieve sustainable growth.” He added, “The root industry will rise again from a hidden supporter to a key player in advanced industries and a platform for manufacturing innovation, with joint efforts from the government and industry.”