S.Korea to offer 92 bln USD to promote new growth industries
Xinhua, January 15, 2015 Adjust font size:
South Korea plans to provide about 100 trillion won (92 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015 to help promote new growth industries, five economy-related ministries said in their annual report to President Park Geun-hye on Thursday.
The report defined a company's life cycle as foundation, growth, disinvestment and re-foundation in a bid to offer assistance in each stage, according to the report submitted by the five ministries, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, and the Finance Services Commission.
The assistance plan will focus on the "growth" stage by providing some 100 trillion won in policy funds for future- oriented, new growth industries.
About 80 trillion won in policy funds will be separately allocated this year to the remaining three stages.
To foster the so-called "fintech" industry, the financial regulator plans to draw up ways of promoting the industry and easing regulations by the end of June.
The fintech is a compound word of financial and technology, which includes mobile settlement and remittance. It is expected to serve as "mobile bank" as mobile shopping with smartphone is surging around the world.
By helping small companies find overseas sales routes, the government will induce about 2,400 companies, which sell goods and services only in the domestic market, to change into exporters within this year. It would raise the ratio of exports for small firms to about 35 percent of their total profits. Endi