S. Korea to introduce measures to beef up display industry this week

SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's finance minister said Wednesday the government plans to come up with measures to bolster the competitiveness of the display industry with the goal of reclaiming the top position in the global market.

"South Korea had been the leading player in the display sector from 2004 to 2020, but the competition has been intensifying due to the rise of latecomers, such as China, particularly in the OLED sector," Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said ahead of a meeting with economy-related ministers.

"During the meeting, we plan to discuss detailed measures, and the industry ministry will release details later this week," Choo added.

South Korea has already rolled out several measures to revitalize the sector, offering a tax credit rate of 15 percent on facility investment in strategic industries, including chips and displays, higher than the previous rate of 8 percent.

The rate for small and midsized enterprises (SMEs) also rose from 16 percent to 25 percent. An additional 10 percent cut will be applied for the increased amount of investments compared with the average of the previous three years.

The finance minister said the government will provide customized support to SMEs to address economic uncertainties.

Outbound shipments of such businesses fell 7.9 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2023, reflecting the country's ailing exports, according to the data compiled by the finance ministry.

South Korea will open what it calls "the global business center" in Saudi Arabia in September to support Korean firms seeking business opportunities in the Middle East, and build a logistics center at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, in the near future that will serve small businesses, Choo said.

colin@yna.co.kr
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