Seoul: South Korea's information and communication technology (ICT) companies have increased their research and development (R and D) investment by 7.4 percent from the previous year in 2023, as reported by the science ministry on Sunday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, local ICT firms allocated a total of 56.8 trillion won (US$38.70 billion) to R and D projects in 2023. This accounted for 60.2 percent of the overall R and D investment by all local companies, as noted by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The basic research field experienced a significant rise in R and D investment, with an increase of 15.9 percent. When broken down by company size, large corporations saw their R and D investment grow by 9.1 percent to 46 trillion won in 2023. Venture companies also contributed with a 6.7 percent rise in investment. However, small and mid-sized businesses faced a decline, with their investment decreasing by 11 percent from the previous year.
The science ministry attributed the drop in investment by smaller firms to a temporary change in polling methods, which resulted in fewer small and medium-sized firms participating in the annual survey.