Gyeonggi Province: "Supporting Domestic Returns of Companies with Up to 500 Million Won"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] Gyeonggi Province is recruiting participating companies for the '2022 Gyeonggi Province Returning Company Support Project' to enable advanced and key supply chain companies that have expanded overseas to establish themselves stably upon domestic return.

The support period per company is 7 years from the date of selection as a domestic-returning company, and companies can apply for multiple support projects with a maximum cumulative total support of 500 million won.

This year, the policy aims to attract returning companies through focused support in the advanced and core parts sectors, concentrating support on the return and establishment of leading companies in advanced industry ecosystem sectors.

First, up to 200 million won per company will be provided for investment costs in process smartification, including robot adoption and smart factory construction.

To enhance the capabilities of returning companies with technological competency, support will be provided up to 70 million won per company for new technology development patent applications, test analysis and prototype manufacturing costs for domestic and international certifications. Additionally, up to 5 million won per company will be provided to assist smooth business operations through management consulting and promotional marketing.

Furthermore, in cooperation with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, the province plans to conduct factual surveys on overseas subsidiary companies and actively discover excellent companies in advanced sectors to encourage their domestic return, helping stabilize the supply and demand of key supply chain items.

In connection with this, the province held an 'Gyeonggi Province Returning Company Support Project Online Business Briefing Session' on the 24th of last month.

At the briefing session, in addition to guidance on participation application for the support project, time was allocated to listen to field voices regarding the overseas situations, domestic return processes, and challenges faced by returning companies.

Prior to this, the province enacted the 'Ordinance on Supporting the Domestic Return of Gyeonggi Province Overseas-Expanded Companies' from 2020 and has been providing additional support separately from the government.

As a result, a total of 7 new returning companies have come back to Gyeonggi Province, centered on advanced industries and key manufacturing companies such as steel.

In particular, among returning companies, U-Steel Co., Ltd. (Ansan) has expanded its business area to automotive parts materials, showing a return effect with sales increased by 70% compared to the previous year.

Additionally, Ilantec Co., Ltd. (Hwaseong) has planned to introduce an advanced-stage smart factory capable of autonomous operation for manufacturing Korean residential energy storage systems (ESS), which is expected to be a future growth business. The province has connected support policies for process smartification and linked consulting support from the Korea Robot Industry Promotion Agency for robot engineering.

Lee Min-woo, Director of the Investment Promotion Division, stated, "In a situation where establishing an independent ecosystem through securing domestic supply chains within the country has become urgent following COVID-19, supporting the early settlement of returning companies is a very important policy, and Gyeonggi Province plans to provide active support."

Applicants for this recruitment are returning companies that have received a 'Confirmation Certificate for Selection as Domestic-Returning Company Support Target' from the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy and have returned to Gyeonggi Province. The recruitment period is until the 25th. Details can be found at the ezbiz (www.egbiz.or.kr) project announcement.