[THE INVESTOR] The government will open rail network projects in Korea to the private sector, and attract nearly 20 trillion won (US$ 17.1 billion) private sector funds into the field over the next 10 years. According to the plans revealed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, rail projects across the country will be opened to the private sector. Until now, the majority of rail projects open to the private sector have been concentrated in Seoul and surrounding regions. A train o

[THE INVESTOR] The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank plans to finance a SK Engineering and Construction-led infrastructure project, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on July 5. The AIIB is considering lending US$ 75 million to the South Korean consortium to build a peripheral ring road in Almaty, Kazakhstan. During the AIIB’s first annual meeting held in Beijing in June, the bank announced its plan to finance the Almaty highway, along with four other projects The bank wi

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s ongoing restructuring of financially troubled sectors like shipbuilding could put a damper on the country’s small and medium enterprises, a think tank’s report showed on July 5. According to a report published by IBK Economic Research Institute, bank loans extended to SMEs in so-called “vulnerable industries,” designated by the government, amounted to some 62.5 trillion won (US$54 billion). The government has singled out five industries -- shipbuilding, shipping, con

[THE INVESTOR] Tax cuts and state financing will be introduced for cultural contents producers as part of the Korea’s service sector growth plans, government ministries revealed on July 5. The plans are aimed at facilitating the growth of Korea’s domestic market for cultural contents to 135 trillion won (US$ 116.8 billion) and contents trade balance to US$ 8 billion by 2020. The country’s contents market came in at 100 trillion won last year, and trade balance was US$ 4.6 billion. Under the plan

[THE INVESTOR] Large companies will face lower barriers in bidding for the public sector’s software development projects, and more educational institutions will be made to offer specialized software-related education. The government aims to raise software exports from US$ 6 billion last year to US$ 10 billion by 2020.As part of its service sector development strategy announced on July 5, the government said that the barrier for large companies in conducting government projects will be lowered. T

[THE INVESTOR] The government will facilitate the convergence of service and manufacturing industries through tax breaks and establish a supervisory body for aiding service sector’s overseas expansion, it announced on July 5. Through the measures, Korea hopes to raise the average intermediate input ratio to 25 percent by 2020. According to government data, the figure for Korea stood at 20 percent in 2011. In comparison the figure for the UK stood at 55 percent, and 34 percent for Japan in the sa

[THE INVESTOR] Robots, drones and Internet of Things will be deregulated, and receive state R&D support in a government drive to improve South Korea’s logistics industry.Under the plans unveiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on July 5, drone regulations will be eased to allow the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for courier services. As part of the plans, businesses involving drones weighing less than 25 kilograms will not be required to meet any capital requirements. In a