The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will launch large-scale research and development (R&D) support to raise the technological self-reliance of the materials, parts, and equipment (so-called "materials, parts, and equipment") sector, the backbone of the national industry, and to respond to changes in the global supply chain.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said on the 15th that it will recruit promising small businesses to participate in the "2026 Small Business Technology Innovation Development Project" in the materials, parts, and equipment field from Mar. 30 to Apr. 15. Through this call, it plans to select 140 new projects and provide a total of 16.8 billion won in research and development funds.
In particular, this project will allocate quotas by region to ease the concentration in the capital area and reinvigorate regional economies. It will allocate 82, or about 58%, of the total support targets to corporations outside the capital area to promote balanced regional development.
In addition, each Regional Office of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups can autonomously design evaluation indicators that reflect regional specialized industries, with the weight of the "regional specialization" indicator set at 20% of the evaluation items. This is expected to enable tailored preferential support that reflects regional voices.
Reflecting the intensifying competition in global supply chains, the scope of support has also been expanded. The number of supported items in materials, parts, and equipment has been increased from 113 to 137, and, in particular, the defense industry and rare earths—now emerging as core axes in the recent competition for technological supremacy—have been newly added. The strategy is to preemptively secure key resources and technologies directly linked to national security.
Hwang Young-ho, director general for Technology Innovation Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "The materials, parts, and equipment industry is a survival strategy for Korea to maintain a technological super-gap amid the reorganization of the global supply chain, going beyond technological self-reliance," and added, "We will spare no support so that promising small businesses can secure innovative technologies and lead the global market."
Details of this project can be found on the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) website or the Integrated R&D Information System website from Mar. 16. Project applications can be submitted online via the Integrated R&D Information System website from Mar. 30 to 6 p.m. on Apr. 15.