To Achieve 15 Trillion KRW in the Robot Industry... Low-Interest Loan Support for Excellent Companies

Designated Bank for Commercialization in Robotics Sector
"Priority Support for COVID-19 Affected Companies"

The photo shows President Moon Jae-in observing robot-assisted work at Hyundai Robotics in Dalseong-gun, Daegu, where the 'Robot Industry Promotion Strategy Report Meeting' was held on the morning of the 22nd last month. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement announced that they will provide low-interest loans to outstanding robot companies. Shinhan Bank has been designated as the dedicated commercialization bank.

On the 26th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy stated that to achieve the goals set in the 'Robot Industry Development Plan' announced in March last year, they decided to implement this policy to support voluntary robot distribution centered on the private sector.

The development plan set goals such as increasing the distribution of manufacturing robots from the current 300,000 units to 700,000 units by 2023 and expanding robot industry sales to 15 trillion won. Through this, the number of robot-specialized companies with sales exceeding 100 billion won will be increased to 20.

Shinhan Bank, the dedicated commercialization bank in the robot sector, will offer a preferential interest rate of 1.5 percentage points below the bank's calculated rate to excellent robot companies recommended by the Institute. They will support 30 billion won in operating funds for companies over three years, with an annual scale of 10 billion won.

The loan limit is up to 1 billion won per company, and the loan period is within one year, extendable up to three years.

Support is available for costs such as inventory procurement of parts for robot manufacturing companies, commercialization funds, labor costs for robot production and improvement, as well as commercialization funds and system integration (SI) costs for companies planning to use collaborative robots in their business.

In particular, companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic will be given priority support if they submit damage evidence documents such as contract cancellation papers and sales decrease proof.

Shinhan Bank will also provide support in management, finance, accounting, and foreign exchange consulting, as well as hold investor relations (IR) briefings and technical mentoring for robot startup companies.

Robot companies wishing to apply for loan support can refer to the announcement on the Institute’s website and apply.

The Ministry and the Institute plan to evaluate the effectiveness of this newly launched financial product in supporting robot companies and, after consulting with the dedicated commercialization bank, will seek to expand the support scale.

In addition to loans, they plan to promote the spread of private-sector-centered robot distribution by supporting the development of various financial products such as leasing and rental in the future.

An official from the Ministry said, "We expect that this newly launched low-interest loan product will help normalize the management of robot companies affected by the recent COVID-19 situation," adding, "We will continue to listen to the difficulties of robot companies and prepare support measures."

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