[2024 Budget] 4.4 Trillion Won Invested in Advanced Services like AI and Bio

Next year, the government will allocate 4.4 trillion KRW in budget to advance high-tech service industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) and bio sectors. Major administrative services like Government24, Hometax, Bokjiro, and Employment24 will become accessible through a single integrated login.

According to the '2024 Budget Plan' announced by the government on the 29th, the budget for advancing high-tech service industries will provide 1.2028 trillion KRW for private-sector-led AI technology development, an increase of 15.8% from this year's 1.0384 trillion KRW. A government official stated, "We will offer bold incentives to overseas and domestic investment companies for economic re-leap and expand domestic investment to foster high value-added advanced services and cultural industries."

The government emphasized that with ultra-large AI technology emerging as an essential factor to revolutionize productivity across all industries, it is necessary to foster the ecosystem. To this end, 61.9 billion KRW has been allocated for building a national integrated bio big data system, and 38.3 billion KRW each for developing ultra-large AI-based expert services in five major fields: law, medical, psychology, media, and academia.

In the bio sector, a total of 1.9442 trillion KRW will be supported, including 288.9 billion KRW for developing core technologies such as new drugs and stem cells, and 86.4 billion KRW for the 'Boston Korea' project aimed at fusing Korea's medical data with advanced bio technologies from the United States. The digital platform government project has been allocated 926.2 billion KRW. Additionally, 34.4 billion KRW will be provided for developing an administrative service integration platform that enables integrated use of major administrative services like Government24, Hometax, Bokjiro, and Employment24 with a single login.

The cybersecurity budget will increase by 17.3% from this year's 311.7 billion KRW to 365.6 billion KRW. Although the quantitative size of Korea's cybersecurity market grew from 10 trillion KRW in 2018 to 16.2 trillion KRW last year, its share in the global market is only 4% out of a total 394 trillion KRW. The government will support 107.6 billion KRW for developing core technologies to protect public services, data, and networks. Furthermore, a government-led cybersecurity fund worth 20 billion KRW will be established targeting promising security startups.

To support exports by Korean companies, 1.9 trillion KRW will be provided. The support amount for order projects will be expanded from 266.9 billion KRW this year to 532.6 billion KRW next year. Specifically, the contribution to the trade insurance fund will increase from 50 billion KRW this year to 95 billion KRW next year. For overseas market development, 450 billion KRW will be invested. Also, the marketing export voucher program will be expanded from 241 to 444 companies for general enterprises and from 2,982 to 3,290 companies for small and medium enterprises, with a budget of 167.9 billion KRW allocated.

On the 27th (local time), visitors attending the world's largest mobile technology exhibition, 'Mobile World Congress (MWC 2023),' are exploring the KT booth. Held over four days until the 2nd, 'MWC 2023' is expected to be a mobile festival showcasing 5th generation (5G) and 6G mobile communications, satellites, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital transformation technologies. Photo by Joint Press Corps

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