Next Year's National R&D Budget 29.8 Trillion Won... 'Korean New Deal' Budget Increases by 48%

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The government will invest approximately 30 trillion won in next year's Korean New Deal, COVID-19 vaccine development, and research and development of future key industries.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 2nd, next year's national research and development (R&D) budget has been set at 29.8 trillion won, an increase of 2.4 trillion won (8.8%) from this year's 27.4 trillion won. Compared to 2017, when the Moon Jae-in administration took office (19.5 trillion won), it has increased by 10.3 trillion won (52.8%). The R&D budget growth rate has exceeded the government's total expenditure growth rate for three consecutive years since last year.

The government's R&D investment ratio relative to gross domestic product (GDP) is 1.09%. It has risen to first place in the world, surpassing countries such as Norway and Germany.

The government plans to select 10 major R&D investment priority projects next year and invest 12.8 trillion won. For R&D related to the Korean New Deal, including the Digital New Deal and Green New Deal, 3.6 trillion won will be invested, an increase of 48.1% from this year's 2.4 trillion won.

2.8 trillion won will be allocated to R&D in the Big 3 industries such as system semiconductors, biohealth, and future cars, and 500 billion won will be provided for infectious disease research and enhancement of quarantine systems, including the establishment of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine platforms. 800 billion won will be invested in the space sector, and 400 billion won in quantum 6G and new platform technology sectors.

Meanwhile, the government stated that during the R&D budget formulation process, it integrated the previously dispersed planning, evaluation, and management expenses by institution and accounting, reducing about 20.8 billion won.

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