South Jeolla's Regional Innovation Leaders Secure 7.1 Billion Won in National Funding

South Jeolla Province has secured 7.1 billion won in national funding to foster companies in future strategic industries. This budget will be used to enhance research and development (R&D) activities for regional businesses. A total of 23 projects were selected in this initiative, securing 7.1 billion won in national funds, ranking second nationwide in terms of secured government funding.

Through the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' '2026 Regional Innovation Leading Company Fostering (R&D)' program, the province aims to support technological innovation and build industry-academia-research cooperation ecosystems for key SMEs in non-metropolitan areas. Within the 'Key Industry Ecosystem Building' category, focused on industry-academia-research collaboration, 18 projects were selected.

The selected projects include 10 in the energy sector, 8 in advanced shipbuilding, and 5 in materials and components. Notably, these encompass future technologies such as AI-based energy storage systems, RE100 microgrid solutions, remote repair for offshore wind turbine blades, and automated robotic welding for shipbuilding.

This successful bid for national funding, leading to the selection of numerous future technology projects linked to South Jeolla's key industries like AI, energy, and advanced shipbuilding, is expected to contribute to strengthening the technological competitiveness and industrial advancement of regional SMEs. South Jeolla Province has expressed its ambition to continuously attract government R&D projects and enhance corporate R&D capabilities, focusing on fostering technologically advanced regional companies in strategic sectors such as energy, artificial intelligence, and advanced shipbuilding to build a regional industrial ecosystem that leads government policy and the market.