Ministry of Industry to Invest 1.178 Trillion Won in Materials and Components Technology Development This Year

441.7 Billion KRW to Be Invested in Advanced Strategic Industries
Including Semiconductors, Displays, Secondary Batteries, and Bio

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 4th that it will invest 1.178 trillion KRW in materials and components technology development this year. This amount is a 3.2% increase compared to the previous year.

By industry, a total of 441.7 billion KRW will be invested in the development of materials and components to secure a technological lead in advanced strategic industries such as semiconductors (136.1 billion KRW), displays (101.9 billion KRW), secondary batteries (100.9 billion KRW), and bio (102.8 billion KRW). The ministry will support 26 new projects including ‘development of rare metals for semiconductor thin film deposition,’ ‘development of next-generation display light-emitting materials,’ ‘development of solid electrolyte materials for all-solid-state batteries,’ and ‘development of bio ink materials for rapid neovascularization.’

Additionally, a total of 736.3 billion KRW will be invested in materials development for high value-added and future promising industries such as machinery and metals (305.3 billion KRW), automobiles (89.0 billion KRW), chemicals (111.3 billion KRW), aerospace (62.8 billion KRW), and hydrogen (20.0 billion KRW). The government will support 66 new projects including ‘development of biodegradable plastic materials’ and ‘development of resource-circulating polymer materials and application technologies’ to implement the ‘Plan to Enhance Competitiveness of the Petrochemical Industry’ announced in December last year.

Functionally, research and development (R&D) to stabilize the materials and components supply chain will continue to expand. Following 17.6 billion KRW in 2023 and 76.6 billion KRW last year, 131.2 billion KRW will be invested this year to support the development of alternative materials and recycling for 185 supply chain stabilization items. Furthermore, to activate private investment in the materials and components sector, 302.7 billion KRW will be supported for investment-linked technology development, where the government co-invests in technology development funds for projects that have attracted private investment in advance.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to announce new projects for the materials and components technology development program on the 5th and select executing institutions by April (June for investment-linked projects).

Na Seong-hwa, Director of Industrial Supply Chain Policy at the Ministry, said, "Through challenging and innovative materials and components technology development, we will support the technological lead and supply chain stabilization of advanced industries, while promoting rapid technology development by integrating AI-based digital material development methods."