Commercialization of New Technology to Become Tech Powerhouse

MKE holds the 2009 Rally for Promoting Technology Commercialization

The 2009 Rally for Promoting Technology Commercialization, marking its 13th year, took place at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Nov. 5 with approximately 500 people in attendance including public organization officials in charge of procuring new technology products from SMEs.
Among those on hand at the event were Minister of Knowledge Economy Choi Kyung-hwan; Rep. Chung Jang-sun, chairman of the National Assembly Knowledge Economy Committee; and Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Since 1997, the government has held the Rally for Promoting Technology Commercialization to nurture SMEs so that they can secure a competitive edge in the global market by promoting the commercialization of Korea’s first newly developed technologies, including certified New Excellent Product (NEP) and New Excellent Technology (NET) and encourage public organizations to purchase products from SMEs so that they can explore their markets.
The government has awarded prizes to exemplary companies and public organizations in recognition of their roles in the commercialization of new technologies, thus inspiring the desire for developing new technologies and building a foundation for public organizations’ purchases of related products for the sake of national industrial development and souped-up competitiveness.
A survey showed that 415 NEP-certified companies saw their sales jump 27 percent from 2007 to 83.829 trillion won in 2008 and NEP-certified products surging to 1.454 trillion won in sales, a 34 percent jump, and to 1.104 trillion won in domestic demand, a 38 percent leap and a 24 percent jump to 351.9 billion won in exports, contributing greatly to improving NEP-certified companies’ sales.
Starting this year, the Korea Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS)’s NEP certification site, “BuyNP,” has been hooked up with the accounting management systems of government agencies, including the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in order to provide information on certified products in real time and serve as an opportunity to raise public organizations’ credibility with certified products by automatically compiling records of purchasing.
In his commemorative speech, MKE Minister Choi stressed the need for ramping up technology competitiveness and the commercialization of technologies in order to survive in an era of unlimited competition. Choi made it clear for the government to aggressively support SMEs’ marketing for certified products so that they can devote themselves to developing and commercializing new technologies. He also appealed for corporations, public organizations and the government to join forces in catapulting Korea into ranks of global technology powerhouses and, in particular, he urged corporations to put more energy into developing new technologies for the future and put the best products on the global market in order to advance the goal of reaching $30,000 per capita national income.
Sixty-seven individuals and organizations were presented with orders and other awards in recognition of their contribution to the development and commercialization of new technologies. Sehwa P&C CEO Ku Ja-bum was honored with the Order of Industrial Service, Silver Tower for localizing monitor films for privacy protection, while Lee Jang-won, senior SK Energy researcher, was decorated with the Industrial Service Medal for locating lithium ion battery separator technologies. nw

Dignitaries, including Minister of Knowledge Economy Choi Kyung-hwan, Rep. Chung Jang-sun, chairman of the National Assembly Knowledge Economy Committee, attend the 2009 Rally For Promoting Technology Commercialization in Seoul on Nov. 5.