Government Launches 'Vitality Project' to Revitalize Regional Economies in Daegu, Gangwon, and Others...

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has stepped up to revive the local economy, which has been shrinking due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). It will support 11 regional vitality projects to be implemented nationwide, including in Daegu and Gangwon.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 13th that it will promote regional vitality projects to help quickly restore the local key manufacturing bases struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The regional vitality projects are a two-year initiative running until next year and are a key national agenda. The projects aim to overcome the crisis of local key manufacturing industries, which are clearly experiencing economic slowdown, and to revitalize the industrial ecosystem.

This year, 11 projects in Gangwon, Ulsan, Daegu, Gyeongbuk, Chungnam, and Chungbuk regions will be selected. A total of 30.5 billion KRW in national funds will be invested.

Local governments will lead the diagnosis of the characteristics of local key industries together with regional innovation institutions. Based on the diagnosis, efforts will be made to establish manufacturing infrastructure, commercialization such as design, patents, and certification, as well as workforce development and market expansion.

The project will officially start this month targeting beneficiary companies.

From the 14th, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will recruit beneficiary companies by region through the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology and regional executing institutions.

Online and offline briefings will also be held for companies within the jurisdiction.

Detailed support information and application methods can be found on the websites of the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, Technoparks, and other regional executing institutions.

An official from the Ministry said, "We expect local companies to actively respond to the rapidly changing global supply chain due to COVID-19 by utilizing this project and to turn the crisis into an opportunity to pioneer new paths." He added, "We plan to operate the project flexibly to actively respond to the COVID-19 crisis, inject vitality into the regional economy, and build a resilient local industrial ecosystem."

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