The National Growth Fund, which will invest 150 trillion won in advanced industries over the next five years, will manage more than 30 trillion won next year to support advanced strategic industries, venture innovation companies, scale-ups, and regional growth. The government announced this plan during the Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Ministers’ Meeting and Growth Strategy TF Meeting held on the 16th.
The fund will support advanced strategic industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, vaccines, displays, hydrogen, future cars, bio, AI, defense, and robots, as well as industries necessary for future strategies and economic security like content and key minerals. It will provide infrastructure support including equipment supply, facility construction, and energy generation and transmission. Mega projects with significant industry impact will be identified and supported through a comprehensive package including regulation, taxation, finance, and workforce development.
Direct investment will involve participating in capital increases for SMEs and mid-sized companies that have difficulty obtaining market-based loans or low-interest loans, or in capital increases for special purpose companies for large-scale factory expansions. The Advanced Strategic Industry Fund will directly become a shareholder and participate in capital increases or M&A with the companies and private financial institutions. The fund will operate with 1.5 trillion won from the fund and 1.5 trillion won from private capital, totaling 3 trillion won.
Indirect investment will involve creating large-scale funds jointly with private capital such as banks, pension funds, and retirement funds to execute equity investments that align with policy objectives. The selected private fund managers will utilize their foresight to make investments that foster advanced industries and align with the policy intentions of individual sub-funds. The scale will be 1.5 trillion won from the fund and 5.5 trillion won from private capital, totaling 7 trillion won.