SoBuJang Policy Fund Surpasses 1 Trillion Won in 1 Year and 6 Months

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The amount raised for policy funds to invest in materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) has surpassed a total of 1 trillion won.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 21st, the SoBuJang policy fund, created primarily to invest in SoBuJang companies following Japan's export restrictions in July 2019, raised a total of 1.0409 trillion won over the past 1 year and 6 months (2020 to June 2021). This amount is double the total SoBuJang policy fund investment of 573.6 billion won accumulated over the 20 years before Japan's export restrictions (2000 to 2019).

The government plans to raise an additional SoBuJang fund of more than 600 billion won this year. It also intends to strengthen efforts to expand investments in promising SoBuJang companies using policy-type New Deal funds.

To this end, the Materials, Parts, and Equipment Investment Institutions Council, the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, the Korea Development Bank, and private investment institutions signed a "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Activation of Materials, Parts, and Equipment Investment" at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the same day. Through this MOU, each institution agreed to actively cooperate to discover promising investment projects in the New Deal sector.

They plan to analyze the value chain of 200 New Deal items defined in the joint New Deal investment standards and build a database of SoBuJang companies engaged in essential core materials, parts, and equipment and related businesses necessary for producing each item. Additionally, they will provide online and offline meeting opportunities between SoBuJang companies seeking investment and private investment institutions of New Deal funds, and establish exchange programs between investment institutions and SoBuJang industry experts to increase investors' interest in the SoBuJang industry.

Starting next year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to link up to 3 billion won in research and development (R&D) funds to SoBuJang companies that succeed in attracting investment through New Deal funds and are recognized for their growth potential.

Lee Kyungho, the Materials, Parts, and Equipment Cooperation Officer at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "With this memorandum of understanding, we hope that investment resources for the growth of SoBuJang companies will expand further, and that the SoBuJang industry and the financial sector will closely cooperate to create various successful investment cases."

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