Choo Kyung-ho: "Discovering New Private Investment Projects Worth Over 13 Trillion Won This Year"

Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting and Export Investment Measures Meeting
To Supplement Fiscal Capacity and Respond to Downside Economic Risks

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho announced on the 6th that "we will discover more than 13 trillion won worth of new private investment projects this year."

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Choo held the "Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting and Export Investment Measures Meeting" at the Government Seoul Office and announced the "2023 Private Investment Project Revitalization Promotion Strategy," which includes this plan.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo explained, "This measure focuses on supplementing fiscal capacity and responding to downside risks in the economy," adding, "The government will expand the scope of private investment projects beyond transportation facilities to include industrial, living, and aging facilities, and promote the conversion of fiscal projects currently undergoing preliminary feasibility studies into private investment projects."

The government plans to actively support the timely commencement of projects worth 8.9 trillion won this year and the achievement of the execution target of 4.35 trillion won, along with discovering new private investment projects worth 13 trillion won this year.

Institutional improvements to further increase private sector participation incentives will also be actively pursued. First, new types of projects such as administrative complex towns and electric vehicle charging facilities will be discovered and supported for prompt commercialization. Specific project models for improvement and operation types such as road expansion and double-tracking of railways will be presented to reduce uncertainties in project promotion. Additionally, the possibility of promoting private investment projects for businesses included in the New Growth 4.0 strategy will be actively reviewed.

At the same time, the submission documents required when proposing projects will be simplified to reduce cost burdens by more than two-thirds. For projects below a certain scale, the private investment eligibility investigation period will be shortened from 270 days to 210 days.

Furthermore, active support will be provided to enable more participation by small and medium-sized enterprises not only in local government projects but also in national projects.

The meeting also discussed the super-gap research and development (R&D) strategy for three major core technologies. Deputy Prime Minister Choo stated, "With the goal of securing 100 next-generation core technologies, the government will invest more than 4.5 trillion won in R&D over the next five years," and added, "To strengthen R&D capabilities, we will expand the training of experts such as master's and doctoral-level personnel and enhance strategic cooperation with advanced technology countries."

To this end, the government will expand R&D tax credits to encourage private R&D investments exceeding 150 trillion won and will promptly designate and revise detailed technologies under relevant laws and regulations.

To strengthen export capabilities in the shipbuilding industry, financial support will be expanded. First, the government plans to actively support securing additional refund guarantees (RG) to maintain the strong order trend of domestic shipbuilders. When ordering ships, the ordering party typically requires a refund guarantee (RG) for advance payments (about 40% of the ship price) from the shipbuilder to prepare for situations where ship delivery becomes impossible.

For large shipbuilders, if the RG issuance limit is exhausted, the government will promote inter-bank consultations to prepare additional burden-sharing plans among financial institutions and support special guarantees using the trade insurance fund. For medium-sized shipbuilders, the government will raise the re-guarantee ratio of RG special guarantees by the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation from 70% to 85% to expand RG issuance by commercial banks. Additionally, KDB Industrial Bank and Korea Eximbank will review project profitability and promote additional RG issuance. Furthermore, leveraging the high status of Korean shipbuilders, the government will actively support securing RG through overseas financial institutions. Guidelines to prevent low-price orders and financial sector insolvency will also be established to ensure financial support does not lead to these issues.

A plan to promote innovative growth of regional small and medium-sized enterprises was also presented. To revitalize the regional economy, the government plans to nurture 300 regional growth-leading companies by 2027 through customized support according to the growth stage of companies and regional cooperation.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo emphasized, "We will discover 300 regional company growth projects and 100 representative collaboration models through cooperation among regional companies, universities, and public institutions," adding, "We will improve growth conditions for regional small and medium-sized enterprises through strengthened financial support and customized manpower and export support reflecting regional conditions."

Additionally, to reduce the high toll burden on citizens, the government decided to lower the toll for Yeongjong Bridge from 6,600 won to 3,200 won starting in October this year, and for Incheon Bridge from 5,500 won to 2,000 won starting at the end of 2025.

Choo Kyung-ho, Deputy Prime Minister of Economy.

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