Deputy Minister Im Ki-geun Visits Seongsu-dong Robot Company: "Swift Fiscal Execution Is Crucial"

Visit to Lobros, a Humanoid Robot Developer
Over 70% of the Future Industry Budget to Be Allocated in the First Half of the Year

The government has decided to focus more than 70% of its budget execution for the first half of the year on future new industries, such as humanoid robots and artificial intelligence (AI). By accelerating fiscal execution, the goal is to realize an ultra-innovative economy sooner and serve as a catalyst to attract private investment.

Deputy Minister and Acting Minister of the Planning and Budget Office, Ki Geun Lim (second from the left), visiting Lobros. Planning and Budget Office.

On March 6, Deputy Minister and Acting Minister of Planning and Budget Im Ki-geun visited Lobros, a humanoid robot development company located in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, to inspect the progress of key AI and robotics projects. This visit was arranged to directly check whether government funds are revitalizing the economy on the ground as this year’s budget execution gets into full swing.

According to the government, this year’s budget for robot technology development and demonstration support projects is 230.3 billion won, an increase of 24.3 billion won compared to the previous year. As of the end of February, a total of 57.9 billion won (25%) has been executed for these projects, and progress is proceeding smoothly. In particular, the core technology development project for the robotics industry is under special management with a goal of executing more than 75% of its budget in the first half of the year, while the humanoid robot AI technology development project aims to execute more than 90% within the same period.

After inspecting the robot technology development site, Deputy Minister Im emphasized the effectiveness of fiscal execution on the ground, stating, "No matter how quickly the government allocates the budget, if execution is delayed on site, the economic stimulus effects will inevitably be diminished." He added, "Swift fiscal execution is not simply about increasing numbers; it is to induce private investment and create jobs."

Going forward, the Ministry of Planning and Budget will continue to regularly conduct ‘on-site execution inspections’ to intensively manage key projects during the first half of the year. The government believes that, given the significant ripple effects of the AI and robotics sectors across the entire industry, the speed of fiscal execution will be a decisive factor in the success of its policies.

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