The government is supporting local investments across seven areas, including finance, taxation, talent, technology, infrastructure, and systems, to foster new growth engines in regions. Local governments will develop growth engine plans that reflect regional conditions by the end of the year.
On September 7, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the first 'Local-led Growth Engine Council' in Osong, Chungbuk, with participation from 13 local governments, the Korea Industrial Technology Promotion Agency, the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, and regional industrial promotion agencies.
This council was established to quickly promote the 'Five Regions and Three Special Areas Growth Engines' announced at the 10th Central-Local Cooperation Meeting chaired by the President on August 26.
The council serves as a communication and cooperation channel between the central and local governments to discuss regional industrial issues, including the development of growth engines. It aims to accelerate policy implementation by elevating the previously held 'Growth Engine Working Council' to a high-level central-local communication system.
On this day, the Ministry announced a 'Seven Major Policy Support Package for Growth Engines' to back local investments in growth engine sectors.
The seven areas of the package include finance, taxation, talent, infrastructure, funding, systems, and technology.
In the finance sector, the government will promote the establishment of special subsidies and preferential investment grants. In the taxation sector, it will support local preferential tax systems for businesses and workers. In the talent sector, it plans to establish specialized colleges and integrated research institutes for growth engines, while in the technology sector, it will prioritize support for regionally autonomous research and development (R&D) and artificial intelligence transformation (AX) projects.
In the infrastructure sector, the government will push for the creation of new national industrial complexes, M.AX clusters, and RE100 industrial complexes. In the systems sector, it will provide expedited processing of permits and one-stop support for corporate investments.
To assist local governments in developing their own growth plans based on regional industrial conditions and infrastructure, the Ministry also released 'Guidelines for Establishing Growth Engine Development Plans.'
The development plans will include common foundational tasks such as anchor company investment plans, strategies for utilizing the central government's seven major policy support packages, local government investment support measures, and the establishment of industrial hubs and improvement of living conditions.
To support the establishment of these plans, the Ministry will activate 'Super-Regional Joint Project Teams' for the Five Regions and Three Special Areas. These teams will be composed of local governments, regional innovation agencies, and regional industrial promotion agencies, collaborating with local businesses, universities, and research institutions.
The 13 local governments participating in the council presented their visions for future growth engines that reflect their respective industrial and economic conditions. This initiative aims to build self-sustaining industrial ecosystems and create new growth axes across the Five Regions and Three Special Areas.
Based on the discussions from this council, the Ministry will support local governments in establishing their growth engine development plans by the end of the year and will hold the Local-led Growth Engine Council regularly to ensure close communication between the central and local governments.
Moon Shin-hak, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, emphasized, "To turn growth engines into results, local investment projects by companies must be implemented swiftly. The role and execution capability of local governments are crucial for this." He added, "The central government plans to spare no policy support throughout the entire investment process."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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