Investment for 4th Industrial Revolution
The Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy and the Financial Services Commission of South Korea announced on January 19 that they would raise a fund of 300 billion won (US$255 million) for the promotion of new industries that are the most closely related to the fourth industrial revolution.
Specifically, 10 billion won (US$8.5 million) is to be raised by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology of the ministry, 90 billion won (US$76 million) by the Korea Development Bank, 40 billion won (34 million) by the Growth Ladder Fund, 10 billion won (US$8.5 million) by the Industrial Bank of Korea and the rest in the private sector. This money is expected to be invested in the 12 sectors of electric and self-driving cars, environmentally-friendly smart ship, IoT-based home appliances, bio health, robotics, drone, advanced new material, augmented and virtual reality, advanced manufacturing, sensor and measurement, and cultural content.
The South Korean government is working on various incentives so that more and more investment can flow into those sectors from the private sector. For example, such incentives are to be provided for projects associated with the new industries, M&A for technological innovation, M&A for business restructuring and so on.
The official announcement of the launching of the fund is scheduled for this month before fund manager selection and gathering of private investors in April and the launching within this year.