President Seok Yeong-cheol of Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT). (Photos: KIAT)

The government plans to accelerate R&D on the materials, parts and equipment sectors, covering self-driving vehicles, extreme ultraviolet lithography as well as 6G telecom in cooperation with foreign countries.

The step is designed to nurture future growth engines in the post-COVID-19 era, and diversify the technology and parts supply networks.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), applications will be accepted by Sept. 29 for Korean and foreign research institutions to participate in a joint R&D project on strategic technologies.

The joint R&D joint project was newly inaugurated by the MOTIE to come up with ways of reinventing industry technology R&D.

The ministry plans to increase the portion of international collaboration projects vs. ordinary R&D expenditures from current 2.5 percent to 15 percent by 2023.

The international joint R&D project is divided into a strategic technology leadership version and a global demand-linked version. In particular, the strategic technology leadership version is to jointly develop technologies the Korean industry community and Korean companies need in cooperation with foreign research institutions.

KIAT Implements ODA Projects in Cooperation with WB & IDB

Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) has unveiled a detailed plan on this year’s energy industry projects, involving official development assistance (ODA) to spread the ‘Korean New Deal’ to emerging markets.

KIAT expects that the implementation of projects, such energy storage system and smart grid sectors, will contribute to spreading the “Korean Green New Deal.”

It is noteworthy that the KIAT has explored the noticed projects in cooperation with multilateral development banks such as the World Bank (WB) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

KIAT has cooperated with multilateral development banks since 2018: jointly planning with multilateral development banks, implementing pilot projects, and spreading Korean ODA models globally.

Initially, the latest noticed tasks have been explored by local branches of World Bank Group and IDB in connection with the projects that have been already implemented.

WB and IDB have discussed with KIAT the scope of each task as well as support.

Applications will be accepted until Sept. 25, and successful institution candidates will be determined by October after a careful selection evaluation.

Successful institution candidates will jointly flesh out projects with each bank’s local branch and recipient country’s officials, and the feasibility of each project will be confirmed through quantitative and qualitative analysis.

There are six tasks involving the World Bank: three in Asia and the former commonwealth of independent states (CIS), two in African and one in Central and South America. The remaining four tasks involve the IDB in Central and South America.

For instance, they include a pilot project on energy storage systems and geographic information systems (GIS) in Bangladesh, a renewal energy and ESS building task in Tajikistan, Nepal’s power grid modernization project, a frequency regulation ESS project in Tanzania, a hybrid mini-grid project in Lesotho, a mini-grid building task in the Amazon area in Peru, and a frequency regulation ESS project in Honduras.

A view of KIAT headquarters in Taeheran-ro, Seoul.