Blue Planet and 47 Other Companies Designated as Excellent Corporate Research Institutes This Year

Focused Selection on Materials, Parts, Equipment, AI, Big Data, and Other Digital Transformation Fields
223 ATC Companies Declare Expansion of Core Technical Talent Recruitment Amid Crisis

Blue Planet engine performance evaluation scene. (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 16th that it has newly designated 48 affiliated research institutes of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies as Excellent Company Research Centers (ATC) under this year's ATC fostering project.

The ministry will hold the '2020 ATC Designation Certificate Award Ceremony' at 2 p.m. today at EL Tower in Yangjae, Seoul, and present ATC designation certificates and plaques bearing the minister's name to the 48 companies.

The fostering project supports the enhancement of research and development (R&D) capabilities of affiliated research institutes of SMEs and mid-sized companies. From this year until 2027, a total of 627.7 billion KRW will be invested.

Additionally, five researchers who produced particularly outstanding research results were awarded the 'ATC Technology Innovation Award' (Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Commendation).

The newly selected 48 companies possess innovative research capabilities and have great potential to develop into world-class corporate research centers in the future.

The government will support each of these companies with approximately 500 million KRW annually for four years, totaling about 90 billion KRW.

The project targets all industries including manufacturing and services. Especially this year, it focused on selecting companies in the materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) sector, biohealth, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and other digital transformation-related fields.

Among the 48 supported projects, 70.8% (34 projects) are centered on SoBuJang, 31.3% (15 projects) on AI and big data, and 16.7% (8 projects) on biohealth.

The ministry plans to select a total of 225 companies by 2023, including the 48 companies this year, and support each company with about 500 million KRW annually for four years, totaling 627.7 billion KRW (423.9 billion KRW in national funds).

At today's event, 223 participating companies announced through the 'ATC Companies New Hiring Pledge Ceremony' that they plan to hire 10,000 new employees over the next four years.

Jung Seung-il, Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "I hope the 48 newly selected ATC companies will become a new driving force to overcome the current crisis through active technological innovation efforts," and added, "I thank the ATC companies for joining the government's efforts to stabilize employment despite the difficult business environment."

The ATC project has been implemented since 2003. From this year, it has been linked and promoted as the ATC+ project. It has achieved results in expanding global markets, increasing sales and employment, and technological innovation for SMEs and mid-sized companies.

The average number of employees at companies conducting the project was in the 220s at the start of the project and increased to about 300 by the end. Average sales also rose from 61.1 billion KRW to 86.4 billion KRW.

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