The South Korean government will be investing
billions next year to develop the automobiles
of the future such as self-driving cars.
That's one of three industries where the government
plans to find and nurture a "first mover"
that can lead globally.
Our Choi Si-young brings us part two of our
series on how South Korea could do better
on its plan to make the nation a "pioneer"
economy rather than one that tries to chase
others.
Back in April, the Moon administration announced
that it's going to foster the industries of
future cars, bio-health and non-memory semiconductors
to sharpen South Korea's competitive edge
in those sectors and create more jobs.
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Hong-nam Ki
unveiled how the government will spend its
budget to do that.
Starting next year, it will invest around
two-point-five billion U.S. dollars on the
three sectors.
Almost half of that is dedicated to developing
the automobiles of the future such as electric
and self-driving cars.
South Korea is lagging further behind its
competitors in self-driving technologies than
in electric cars,... and this is one of the
reasons the trade and science ministries together
are injecting another twenty-five million,...
for self-driving cars on their own.
Some experts say the government is focusing
only on the latest technology.
"For the past years we've been actually developing
self-driving technologies.
What we haven't been doing is finding areas
where we can apply these technologies.
We should pay more attention to what those
might be and how we can do that."
The expert went on to say that some are in
the transportation and logistics industries,
where self-driving technologies could bring
more efficiency.
He also urged companies to do their part.
"Companies themselves, when doing R&D, should
think about how their technology can appeal
to other sectors and consumers... so that
the new technology leads to a greater synergy
effect later."
South Korea is still trying to catch up with
leaders in self-driving tech like Google,
but experts say the government and local firms
could narrow that gap faster than expected,...
with the right strategy and funding.
Choi Si-young, Arirang News.
