Employees hold up newly-developed cylindrical batteries at LG Energy Solution’s Ochang factory in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Dec. 12. Courtesy of LG Energy Solution By Ko Dong-hwan The government increased the 2024 research and development (R&D) budget for chips, batteries, displays, bio, future cars and robots by 5.
8 percent compared to this year to 2 trillion won ($1. 5 billion), aiming to bolster competitiveness in the key industries, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Monday. The biggest piece of the pie went to future cars with 355 billion won, up 10 percent.
The budget will be used to support the development of micro-gap technologies for green transition to electric and hydrogen vehicles, information and communication technology, AI and autonomous cars. “The investment will focus on sensors and software to pursue the global leaders in the sectors, while further cementing our country’s global leadership in rechargeable battery systems and fuel cells,” a ministry official said. Support for biotechnology in health care, neo-material development, equipment manufacturing and diagnostic device improvements received the second-largest share of 263 billion won.
The government’s support for the semiconductor industry to keep the country’s micro-gap technological advancement in the global chip industry will be backed by a budget of 214 billion won. The investment will go to memory, system chips, manufacturing equipment, core material technology and training new researchers. Some 123 billion won will be spent to find ways to domestically produce key parts for robots, develop related software, expand robotic applications and support test facilities for robots in logistics, commerce and everyday convenience.
The budget for this sector will increase by more than 10 percent from this year. The display sector will get 90 billion won, up nearly 18 percent, to develop better quality inorganic LEDs, while R&D on rechargeable batteries will receive 52. 5 billion won, up over 13 percent, to develop solid-state batteries and other next-generation batteries that are based on lithium or lithium-sulfur.
The investments in the key future growth engines are part of the ministry’s overall R&D budget for 2024, which is down by 591 billion won from last year. The total package includes supporting the country’s local material-part-equipment assets to boost competitiveness in global supply channels (1. 7 trillion won) and reviving the nuclear plant ecosystem to develop next-generation nuclear technologies (720 billion won).
Forming new partnerships with global research bodies (271 billion won) and nurturing future researchers (230 billion won) are also included in the budget. The ministry, meanwhile, slashed the budget for corporate subsidies, R&D on technologies with low track records of innovation and businesses with higher prospects for private investment rather than government support. The new R&D agenda will be shared online on Friday by the ministry, Korea Planning and Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology, Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology and Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning.
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From: koreatimes
URL: https://koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/12/488_365740.html?utm_source=fl
