Gyeongnam Province Calls for Companies Leading Regional Key Industries... 50 Million KRW Support per Company

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Gyeongsangnam-do announced on the 17th that it will recruit companies to participate as 'Regional Innovation Leading Companies' that will proactively lead the local key industry ecosystem until the 8th of next month.

The Regional Innovation Leading Company project is an initiative by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to discover and nurture promising key industry companies through local leadership to promote regional balanced New Deal.

The goal is to discover 100 companies in total, 50 companies each in two phases by next year, across 14 non-metropolitan cities and provinces. The allocation for the first phase in the province is 4 companies. Applications from interested companies will be evaluated and verified, and selections will be made by January next year.

Companies eligible to apply must have their headquarters and main business sites in Gyeongnam and belong to key industries (Smart Machinery, Advanced Aviation, Nano Convergence Smart Components, Anti-aging Medical). They must have at least 10 regular employees and an average sales revenue between 5 billion KRW and less than 40 billion KRW over the past three years, while meeting essential indicators such as employment and sales.

The essential indicators include an average employment growth rate of 8% or more over 3 years, an average export ratio of sales of 12% or more over 3 years, an average sales growth rate of 10% or more over 5 years, and an average R&D investment ratio of 5% or more relative to sales over 3 years. Meeting two of these indicators qualifies a company to apply; if only one essential indicator is met, then one additional selective indicator must be fulfilled.

The selective indicators are a regional youth talent ratio of 60% or more among new hires in the previous year, possession of a company-affiliated research institute within the region, and an average of 3 or more patent applications and registrations over 3 years.

The designation period for leading companies is 3 years per term, with a maximum of 6 years including extension. Selected companies will receive up to 50 million KRW per company in the first year for collaborative strategy consulting, preliminary R&D project planning, and other support.

From the second year, up to 2 billion KRW per company will be provided over a maximum of 6 years (3+3 years) as R&D funding. Additionally, regional autonomous programs for sales channels, workforce, funding, and investment will be operated to provide customized support according to individual collaborative projects.

Sung Heung-taek, Director of the SME and Startup Division of the province, said, "This project is being promoted to intensively nurture local key industry companies with excellent innovative capabilities and to revitalize the regional economy," adding, "We hope many excellent companies in the province will show great interest."

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