Ministry of SMEs and Startups Calls for Companies to Participate in Candidate Regulatory Sandbox Zones

Gyeongbuk, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, Jeonnam, Jeonbuk, Jeju Selected as Regulatory Free Zone Candidates
Local Governments Open Nationwide Applications from Companies and Institutions Seeking Experimental Exemptions

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 14th that seven local governments, including Gyeongbuk, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, Jeonnam, Jeonbuk, and Jeju, have been designated as candidate regulatory free zones.

Candidate regulatory free zones are a system that supports local governments in establishing special zone plans with excellent contributions to the regional economy and ripple effects of regulatory relief. The ministry provides close support such as project planning expenses, consulting by technology and regulatory experts, and coordination with regulatory authorities to grant demonstration exceptions for the seven selected candidate zones, considering industrial innovation, ripple effects of regulatory relief, and regional specialization.

The seven selected candidate zones will undergo project planning and negotiations on ancillary conditions for exceptions with regulatory authorities by the end of the year. Then, in the first half of next year, the Regulatory Free Zone Deliberation Committee and the Regulatory Free Zone Committee will review and decide whether to designate new regulatory free zones.

Starting this year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and local governments will jointly publicly recruit special zone operators. This is to make it easier for companies and institutions that wish to receive demonstration exceptions and carry out projects for new technology demonstrations to participate in the regulatory free zones. Until now, there were difficulties in participation because the timing and methods of recruiting regulatory free zone operators differed by individual local governments.

Kim Hong-ju, head of the Special Zone Innovation Planning Group at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “The candidate zones selected this year have excellent industrial innovation and regional specialization,” and added, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will strive to create regional innovation growth bases where innovation can be freely challenged.”

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