Korea to spend 1 trillion won on anchor mid-sized firms

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced the third Basic Plan for Mid-sized Enterprise Growth Promotion (2026-2030) at a meeting with company executives at Hana Micron, a semiconductor back-end processing firm in Asan, South Chungcheong Province. The plan sets out four strategies meant to keep companies from falling back into the small-business tier once they outgrow it.

The centerpiece is the Deca-core Project, which will run from 2027 to 2035 with a budget of 1 trillion won and bring universities and research institutes together with mid-sized companies. Rather than single materials or parts, the program targets system-level technologies spanning key materials, components, equipment, processes and finished products, with support extending from development to patents, standards, certification and overseas sales. A planning committee drawing on industry, technology and supply-chain experts will be formed within this year to identify candidate projects.

The ministry said the program will also target supply-chain bottlenecks and items that Korean manufacturers currently source overseas, linking basic technology development to the adoption of those parts by global buyers.

The second strategy addresses what the government calls the "support cliff" and "growth obstacles": support falls away as a small company becomes mid-sized, and regulation increases as a mid-sized company becomes large. Under the plan, candidate mid-sized firms will be linked to the ministry's reliability and mass-production testing, newer mid-sized firms will receive financial, research and equipment support, and leading ones will get overseas project information, partner matching and bid guarantees. The ministry also plans to legislate a "mid-sized enterprise graduation deferral" that would let a company keep its mid-sized status for five years after it meets the criteria for a large business, requiring an amendment to the Special Act on the Promotion of Growth and Competitiveness of Mid-sized Enterprises.

A third strand ties mid-sized companies to the government's regional growth-engine program, offering investment incentives alongside policy finance, workforce and infrastructure support. The ministry said it will back more than 13.7 trillion won ($10.1 billion) in investment by regional mid-sized companies and expand joint research projects with local universities and institutes so that they can grow into what it calls micro-large enterprises.

The fourth strategy pushes AI and carbon-neutrality adoption. The ministry will roll out M.AX, its Manufacturing AI Transformation program, aiming to support the AI transition of about 350 mid-sized manufacturing contractors, or 50 percent of the total, by 2030. It will also back greener facilities and safety upgrades at mid-sized companies in high-emission sectors such as steel and chemicals.

Mid-sized companies account for just 1.5 percent of all Korean businesses but 15 percent of production, 18 percent of exports and 14 percent of employment, and 85 percent of mid-sized manufacturers make materials, components and equipment. "Mid-sized companies are the backbone of our economy and the middle power of the Korean economy that connects the value chain between large and small firms," Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Kim Jung-kwan said at the meeting. "They combine the flexibility and agility of a small company with the capital and technology of a large one, and they will be the players that bring innovation and dynamism to our economy."

Kim also awarded certificates to ten newly selected World Class Plus companies, including Wonik Holdings, Natural Way, Humedix and Saehan Industries, chosen in semiconductor and display, bio, and future mobility fields. "Since the growth of companies is the growth of the entire national economy, the government will build the growth ladder so that mid-sized firms can become anchor companies with their own technology," he said.