Ministry of SMEs Supports Industry-Academia-Research R&D with 47.4 Billion KRW... First Project Applications Open in February Next Year

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is briefing on key issues, including the analysis results of changes in the Korean startup ecosystem, at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 26th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Junhyung] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 30th that it will open applications for new projects under the '2022 Industry-Academia-Research Collaboration (Collabo) Technology Development Project' to promote innovative growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through activation of industry-academia-research cooperation. The application period is from February 7 to February 14 next year.

This project is a collaborative research and development (R&D) program that supports SMEs, which find it difficult to develop independent technologies, by utilizing resources and specialized technologies possessed by universities and research institutes to enhance commercialization outcomes. It supports technology and product development in all fields needed by SMEs, divided into two stages: Stage 1 (preliminary research) and Stage 2 (commercialization R&D). The budget allocated from 2019 to 2028 is 387.9 billion KRW, with 47.4 billion KRW allocated for next year.

The eligible applicants are SMEs and universities/research institutes. However, SMEs must have or plan to establish a corporate-affiliated research institute or a dedicated R&D department. SMEs can participate as the lead research and development institution, while universities and research institutes can participate as joint research institutions.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will newly select 446 projects, including 375 Stage 1 preliminary research projects and 71 Stage 2 commercialization R&D projects. The ministry also explained that it has improved areas where SMEs previously faced difficulties in the existing program. A representative example is the establishment of an institution recommendation track through matching organizations such as the Korea Technology Finance Corporation and the Korea Industry-Academia-Research Cooperation Association to discover new technology partners for SMEs and reduce the burden of matching. The ministry plans to select 15% (56 projects) of the 375 new Stage 1 preliminary research projects through the institution recommendation track.

To reduce the financial burden on SMEs, the ministry will continue to ease the private sector contribution ratio and cash contribution ratio to 20% and 10%, respectively, next year as it did this year. Payment of technology fees can also be extended for up to two years. Additionally, the ministry plans to introduce an R&D coaching program providing expert consulting for 40 SMEs that applied to this project since 2019 but were not selected.

Detailed information can be found in the project announcement posted on the SME Technology Development Project Integrated Management System.

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