A total of 509 innovative corporations will receive comprehensive support, including a reduction in loan interest rates from policy financing institutions, an increase in loan limits, a cut in guarantee fees, and consulting services.
The Financial Services Commission announced on the 14th that 13 government ministries jointly selected a total of 542 small and medium-sized enterprises as the first 'Innovation Premier.'
'Innovation Premier 1000' is a program aimed at intensively supporting outstanding corporations in various industries through collaboration between finance and industry. It was introduced at the end of last year to integrate existing policy support systems and provide effective support to outstanding corporations.
The Financial Services Commission explained that each ministry conducted a selection announcement for 'Innovation Premier' in February and March, and evaluated the innovation and growth potential of the supporting corporations considering the characteristics of each industry and the policy direction of the ministries. Considering the 30 corporations that were selected redundantly, a total of 509 corporations were finalized as 'Innovation Premier.'
These corporations will benefit from the Innovation Premier program of policy financing institutions until the end of next year. Specifically, the Industrial Bank of Korea will reduce interest rates by up to 0.9 percentage points (based on Korean won) when using dedicated loan products, and will provide a loan limit for existing operating funds as well as weighting for internal evaluation results.
The Industrial Bank of Korea will reduce loan interest rates by up to 1.5 percentage points and will lend up to 100% (previously 80%) of the required funds for facility financing. The Export-Import Bank will offer a maximum interest rate reduction of 1.0 percentage points and guarantee fee reductions of up to 0.3 percentage points.
The Korea Credit Guarantee Fund will expand the guarantee ratio from the previous average of 85% to 95%, and will increase the guarantee limit from 10 billion won to 15 billion won. The Korea Technology Finance Corporation will also expand the guarantee ratio to 95% (previously at an average of 85%).
It will also support attracting private investments through policy financing institution programs and provide consulting for corporations.
According to the Financial Services Commission, among the 509 'Innovation Premier' corporations selected in the first round, 505 fall into the category of innovative growth industries. In terms of industry, there were the most in manufacturing, mobility, and electric vehicles with 116, followed by artificial intelligence (AI) with 80, environment and smart agriculture with 76, and ICT and digital with 54. By corporation size, there were 488 small and medium-sized enterprises and 21 mid-sized corporations.
More than 96% (492) of the selected 509 corporations correspond to the 'five key funding supply fields.'
The Financial Services Commission and policy financing institutions will constitute a 'comprehensive support team for policy finance' to share support details with each ministry. Plans are in place to allocate additional selection limits to ministries with high demand for support or successful outcomes during the second selection of Innovation Premier.
A Financial Services Commission official noted, 'The government and policy financing institutions plan to continue substantial management and support for outstanding corporations in various industries that will lead the innovative growth of our economy through the process of newly selecting over 500 corporations each year.'