SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) — The government and local chemical companies gathered Wednesday to discuss measures to foster the high-value and eco-friendly transition of the struggling chemical sector, the industry ministry said.
The Chemical Industry Innovation Alliance, led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, and comprising major companies and research institutes, held a general assembly to discuss flagship research and development (R&D) projects to help the domestic chemical industry strengthen its competitiveness, according to ministry officials.
The government has been working to devise R&D projects for the sector under a five-year road map on making South Korea’s chemical industry the fourth most advanced in the world by 2030. Korea currently ranks fifth in terms of high-value transition of the chemical industry.
Under the five-year plan, the government aims to help the local industry shift from the mass production of commodity products, such as ethylene and propylene, to high-value specialty products, while supporting the sector’s efforts to develop core materials for advanced industries.
The chemical sector has recently been making efforts to tackle an industrywide crisis stemming from global oversupply, with major petrochemical companies coming up with voluntary business restructuring plans.
“The government will do its utmost to provide policy support to flagship R&D projects launched through the alliance as they can help build future growth engines for the chemical industry,” Song Hyun-joo, director general for industrial supply chain policy at the ministry, said in a press release.
This file photo, taken May 6, 2020, shows a petrochemical industrial complex in the southeastern city of Ulsan. (Yonhap)
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(YONHAP NEWS)