Ministry of SMEs and Startups Supports Smart Factory Construction with Local Governments

164 Billion KRW Invested in Regional Specialized Smart Factory Project
Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Local Governments Collaborate to Support Smart Factory Construction and Regional Industry Development

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 24th that it will open a public notice for the '2025 Regional Specialized Smart Factory Construction Support Project.' The Regional Specialized Smart Factory Project is a new collaborative initiative that jointly promotes the government's smart factory construction support and local governments' regional specialized industry development support to address local issues. This year, three local governments?Gyeongbuk, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk?will participate.

The project budget includes 2 billion KRW per region, totaling 6 billion KRW, provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups for the advanced stage construction costs. Local governments will match this with 10.45 billion KRW in local funds for the basic stage construction and specialized projects, making a total investment of 16.45 billion KRW. Companies adopting smart factories will receive support covering 50-80% of construction costs, and they will also be able to access specialized programs such as technical support and commercialization support linked to each local government's initiatives.

By region, Gyeongbuk will support smart factory construction in the food manufacturing sector with a budget of 4 billion KRW. Additionally, for supported companies, commercialization support such as building cooperative networks, technical consulting, and certification evaluation will be provided, along with regional specialized programs including policy funds, marketing, and export capacity enhancement.

Jeonnam plans to provide 5.75 billion KRW to support the digital transformation of local food manufacturing companies by covering costs necessary for smart factory adoption and the establishment of manufacturing robots and equipment. Jeonbuk will invest 6.7 billion KRW in the agricultural life bio sector to support smart factory adoption and operate specialized programs for constructed companies, including technology commercialization, new product development, marketing, export certification, and smart HACCP education and consulting.

Kwon Sun-jae, Director of the Manufacturing Innovation Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Through this project, we hope that the central government and local governments will cooperate to smarten the manufacturing sites of regional companies and jointly solve local issues,” adding, “We will continue to expand the support budget and target regions considering local demand in the future.”