South Korean government plans to ‘nurture’ local blockchain work with $4bn investment

South Korea will invest 5 trillion won – $4.4 billion – on “nurturing” eight critical sectors of its economy, but with the main focus on Blockchain, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

And the amount is likely to double, to 10 trillion won, in these areas in the near future, stated Seoul this week.

The investment, which also covers additional areas such as autonomous vehicles and smart factories, represents a 65% increase from this year’s estimate, according to the agency behind the boosted research funds, the country’s Finance Ministry, which sees it as a national priority:

“The measures will help facilitate the platform economy, which in turn will help speed up innovative growth.”

The government will also seek to train up at least 10,000 specialists for such promising sectors over the next five years, as well as am eventual  $10bn investment fund due to be created by 2020.

Under the comprehensive plan, the government will focus on expanding the money supply for fledgling enterprises and creating a “venture-friendly environment”, it promises.

A target of 300,000 new jobs will be newly created by 2022 via these support measures, promises the Ministry.

The news comes via the country’s official news agency – see here for the full release.