Gwangju City to Recruit New National Funded Project Operators Until the 2nd of Next Month

For Local Companies, Universities, Funded Institutions, and Corporations

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 25th that it is recruiting project operators for the ‘Gwangju City New National Subsidy Projects’ until the 2nd of next month, aiming to discover national subsidy projects that provide practical benefits to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), moving beyond the previous focus on research institutions.

This new national subsidy project for companies was launched to lead the growth of Gwangju’s economy, industry, and local SMEs, and to support commercialization that companies can directly experience by securing national funds through bottom-up discovery of research and development tasks centered on local companies.

The eligible applicants include local companies, universities, investment and foundation institutions, public enterprises, and public interest corporations. Only selected projects will receive planning research funds of up to 50 million KRW.

Applications can be submitted by downloading the application form from the Gwangju Technopark website. For more details, inquiries can be made to the City’s Future Industry Policy Division or the Future Business Planning Department of Gwangju Technopark.

The call for proposals covers regional new growth engine industries and future food source projects, including the 11 representative industries and the Korean New Deal projects, aligned with government policies and eligible for national funding in areas such as research and development (R&D), infrastructure establishment, corporate support, and workforce training.

Gwangju’s 11 representative industries include eco-friendly automobile industry, home appliances and air industry, optical convergence industry, energy and hydrogen industry, medical and healthcare industry, smart root industry, artificial intelligence and drone industry, 5G-based ICT industry, cultural content industry, tourism industry, and kimchi and food industry.

The call for proposals is open regardless of the total proposed project cost, and active participation from local companies is encouraged to discover bottom-up demands, ensuring that benefits go to actual manufacturing companies rather than research institutions.

Active participation from interested companies is crucial to support commercialization by connecting company-centered R&D and ongoing projects with national funding.

Son Kyung-jong, Director of the City’s Artificial Intelligence Industry Bureau, said, “We hope that companies will actively participate from the national subsidy discovery stage so that the benefits of national subsidy projects for fostering the 11 representative industries can shift from institution-centered to company-centered.”

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