On the 30th, the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Startups announced that it will solicit candidate projects for the 2026 'Regulatory Free Zone' and 'Global Innovation Regulatory Free Zone' designations for local governments outside the metropolitan area.
'Regulatory Free Zones' are systems that allow for the relaxation of regulations in specific areas for a certain period to foster regional strategic industries and innovative businesses, enabling the demonstration of new technologies and new industries.
A 'Global Innovation Regulatory Free Zone' will also be designated separately with the goal of entering overseas markets. This applies in cases where it is difficult to demonstrate due to domestic regulations or where there is a lack of specialized research infrastructure in the country. The government will support the demonstration and certification overseas through these zones, assisting corporations in entering global markets.
The Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Startups will also support the development of demonstration technologies (R&D) to enable products and services to be commercialized quickly. Through this, it plans to discover and support projects that can launch new products or services into the market simultaneously with the conclusion of demonstration within the Regulatory Free Zones and Global Innovation Regulatory Free Zones.
The targets for the candidate project proposal applications are metropolitan and basic local governments outside the metropolitan area. The submission deadline is from September 15 to 19. The Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Startups will select a total of up to 12 candidate projects, with a maximum of 7 Regulatory Free Zones and 5 Global Innovation Regulatory Free Zones, through written and presentation evaluations of the submitted proposals to assess the potential for new zone designations.
The 2026 Regulatory Free Zones and Global Innovation Regulatory Free Zones will be finally designated by the Minister after deliberation and decision by the review committee and the zone committee in the first half of 2026.