South Korea’s economy is expected to grow by 4.5% this year, down from 5% last year. Last year, approximately 300,000 new jobs were created in the country, falling short of a goal of 350,000 jobs. To increase the number of jobs, ramp up investments and spur R&D activities, government will partner with the industry. The government has announced that it will give KRW 2.2 trillion ($2.35 billion) to bolster R&D and KRW 53.7 billion ($57.3 million) to improve cooperation between conglomerations and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The government will offer additional support to more than “innovative” 5,700 SMEs to stimulate the creation of new jobs. The 30 biggest South Korean conglomerates intend to invest over KRW 51.9 trillion ($55.7 billion) to expand operations in 2007 and will increase their R&D spending by 10%.

Source: Korea.net