Korea Industrial Complex Corporation Recruiting Companies for Smart Factory Construction Support Project in Industrial Complexes

Full-Scale Support for Manufacturing AI Transition in Industrial Complexes
Strengthening Corporate Competitiveness

The Korea Industrial Complex Corporation announced on the 9th that it is recruiting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies located in industrial complexes to participate in the "2026 Ministry-Collaboration Smart Factory Construction Support Project for Industrial Complexes." This project is a cross-ministerial manufacturing innovation support program jointly promoted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, with the goal of enhancing corporate productivity and competitiveness by promoting smart manufacturing sites and transitioning to an artificial intelligence (AI)-based environment.

Headquarters of the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation in Daegu Metropolitan City

In particular, this year, to strengthen specialized support for industrial complexes, the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation and the Korea Artificial Intelligence and Software Industry Association will jointly carry out the project. By combining the association's technological capabilities and AI/software specialist corporate network with the corporation's experience in on-site innovation support in industrial complexes, the project is expected to significantly improve the effectiveness of spreading manufacturing AI.

This year's smart factory construction project has a total budget of 30 billion won and is expected to support around 150 companies. Among them, the industrial complex segment will focus support on around 10 tenant companies in industrial complexes with a budget of approximately 2 billion won. Selected companies will receive up to 200 million won per company for smart factory construction costs, and they must complete smart factory construction within about nine months after signing the agreement.

In addition, reflecting the characteristics of a ministry-collaboration project, linked support will also be provided. Selected companies will receive package-type linked support such as the B2B (business-to-business) Manufacturing Transaction Activation Support Project (AX sector) and services for building ESG (environmental, social, and governance) greenhouse gas inventories, enabling them to strengthen both their digital transformation and ESG response capabilities.

Lee Sanghoon, President of the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation, said, "This smart factory construction support project for industrial complexes is a customized support program designed so that tenant companies in industrial complexes can tangibly experience the transition to manufacturing AI on the ground," adding, "We will continue to actively support the spread of digital and AI innovation across industrial complexes by linking it with existing projects such as Smart Green Industrial Complexes and AX Demonstration Complexes."