Helping Parts
and Material Makers
- MOCIE sets up funds to support development of technologies

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy completed its plan to support the development of parts and material technology this year.
Included in the plan are key issues like solving the shortage of professional technology manpower by dispatching research personnel to companies to provide consultations, and addressing problems faced by parts and material companies through the utilization of top-class research staff and equipment of the 19 research organizations. Those organizations have some 10,000 research staff and 1.4 trillion won worth of equipment.
The plan calls for the ministry to provide matching funds of 50 percent of total funds needed if a parts and material company applies for funding. The application should be screened by the parts and material research team to come up with the best available means of supporting the company.
MOCIE has decided to allocate 23 billion won in funds for the plan based on its past records and strengthen its effectiveness and support system.
Accordingly, support will be extended by groups, not by individual firms and provided simultaneously to individual firms in the group in a bid to heighten the effectiveness of technical support to maximize investment effect.
In the case of small and medium parts and material firms will employ research personnel to exclusively take charge of technology support projects, their pay will be regarded as an investment by those firms for the maximum of 20 million won per year. In order to supplement support-receiving firms' functions to learn and maintain their technology, their technical personnel will be allowed to take up research and development work at research organizations.
At the same time, the ministry has decided to upgrade its technology support by strengthening the consultation function including technology marketing and management. It has also decided to expand its technology support pool by allowing subject assignment to foreign research institutions especially those located in the EurAsian sphere to take advantage of foreign professional manpower. In order to expand the activity of the technology support business and for improved service for customers, the ministry will build a database for professional manpower and equipment in the home page of the integrated research team and provide information on manpower and equipment on a real time basis. nw