5th Meeting to Promote BIG3
Government to Work on EV Infrastructure
Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki presided over the 5th Meeting to Promote BIG3[1], a subsidiary committee of the Industrial Innovation Meeting, held on February 25. Plans to improve EV[2] infrastructure to accelerate a transfer to eco-friendly mobility were main topics of discussion. Other topics of discussion included ways to promote investment in system-on-a-chip fabrication facilities and plans to build a country’s cancer big data. DPM Hong talked about recent developments in BIG3 both home and abroad at the beginning of the meeting.
The following is a summary of Deputy Prime Minister Hong’s keynote address.
Recent developments in BIG3, home and abroad
As transfer to a digital and green economy speeds up, and health care demand grows in line with ageing population, major economies have recently come up with measures to promote BIG3 industries.
Meanwhile, Korea’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicles saw biggest sales in the global market last year, electric vehicle sales reached 4th largest and biomedicine exporters doubled last year compared with two years ago, which sold more than 1 trillion won worth of products. BIG3 exports have been rising fast this year at a pace of around 40 percent increase, and given a global transfer to green and digital economies as is shown in growing demand for future cars and soring semiconductor orders, BIG3 is promising.
Improve EV infrastructure
To help reach this year’s goal of 300,000 clean vehicles, the government will work on EV driver convenience, in addition to purchase and charging supports.
- Increase EV chargers: Ease regulations on locations and the number of chargers in a parking place, allow chargers in parks and greenbelts, and work to increase the number of chargers accessible to the public
- Maintenance: Ease facilities regulations to help EV body shops with their business registration
- Parking: Expand parking spaces for clean vehicles and put a 12 hour limit on the parking
Promote investment in semiconductor fabrication facilities
The government will provide financial support, including tech-based guarantee programs, as well as administrative support.
- Administrative support: Work for the semiconductor cluster construction project planned in the Seoul metropolitan area to proceed as scheduled, such as by helping with getting government approvals in March and gaining access to water and electricity before the construction starts
- Raise private funds: Of a total of 650 billion won worth of funds planned to be launched for DNA[3] and BIG3, 280 billion won to be set up this year for semiconductors and high-tech manufacturing supplies
- Strengthen government’s tech-based guarantee programs to support fabless enterprises
Build a cancer big data
Despite health data amassing in hospitals, they are not used properly in developing new medicine or improving treatment due to lack of standards in data management. The government will work to build a country’s medical big data, starting from a cancer big data. The plans are as follows.
- Build a big data for 10 cancers of 3 million patients by 2025 and work to make it high value-added through data convergence
- Make cancer data open for research purposes in the second half and encourage the development of new cancel treatment
- Form a cancer big data taskforce for qualified support and encourage private medical institutions to participate in building the big data by carrying out clinical trials
