One Additional Marine Fisheries Startup Investment Support Center Designated in the First Half of This Year

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 2nd that it plans to designate one additional Marine and Fisheries Startup Investment Support Center through a public contest in the first half of this year to make it easier for companies to access support projects.

The Marine and Fisheries Startup Investment Support Center is a job creation project by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries that provides customized support suitable for the growth stages of early-stage companies and prospective entrepreneurs. This center verifies growth potential through contests for startup ideas and supports startup mentoring, prototype development, design improvement, domestic and international market development, acquisition of technology certification, and investment attraction.

Since the launch of the Startup Investment Support Center in 2015, a total of 870 companies have been supported by the center. It is analyzed that this has contributed to the creation of a total of 4,265 jobs. In addition, there have been 90 cases of startups established through the center's support.

However, at the performance evaluation meeting held in December last year, it was evaluated as regrettable that there was a lack of collaboration between centers, follow-up management for beneficiary companies was somewhat insufficient, and the centers did not cover marine and fisheries companies nationwide.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to efficiently improve the project implementation system by forming a cooperative organization (governance) among center staff this year and strengthen full-cycle support for companies according to their growth stages. Each center plans to select support targets by receiving applications from marine and fisheries companies located in the respective regions and operate customized programs for each company. Companies wishing to receive support can check the recruitment announcements on each center's website and apply. For inquiries about support projects, companies can contact each center or visit directly for consultation.

Um Ki-du, Director of Fisheries Policy at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "The Marine and Fisheries Startup Support Center is expected to contribute to job creation and the future industrialization of the marine and fisheries industry by supporting the growth and competitiveness of marine and fisheries companies." He added, "We will continue to gradually expand regional centers to support marine and fisheries companies nationwide."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.