A platform has been established to promote exchange among materials, components, and equipment leading enterprises and to foster a healthy ecosystem in the materials, components, and equipment industry through the advancement of technology exchange, consultation, and collaboration related to core strategic technologies.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Minister Moon Seung-wook) held the launch ceremony of the 'Materials, Components, and Equipment Leading Enterprises Council' on the 5th, presided over by the Materials, Components, and Equipment Cooperation Division, bringing together company representatives selected as leading enterprises in six major sectors—semiconductors, displays, machinery and metals, electrical and electronics, automobiles, and basic chemicals—and supporting institutions for leading enterprises.

The launch ceremony was held to establish a communication channel for business proposals following the selection of leading enterprises and to create a platform for sharing to foster a healthy ecosystem in the materials, components, and equipment industry through technology exchange, consultation, and collaboration among leading enterprises.

The council comprises all 43 leading enterprises as members and will hold a supporting council composed of representatives from each of the six materials, components, and equipment sectors once every six months to review major agenda items such as technology exchange, collaborative projects, and technology commercialization, and to propose policies.

Specifically, the council plans to advance technology commercialization through collaboration and demand linkage including information sharing, technology cooperation, and joint investment for technology development; proactively respond to commercialization challenges resulting from various regulations through inter-company information sharing and propose policies to the government to reflect industry opinions; and pursue discovery and promotion of outstanding companies such as recommending excellent materials, components, and equipment leading enterprises for awards.

The role of the support council will be supported by an expert consultation group for corporate consultation and an operational council for inter-enterprise communication and concrete development of agenda items among leading enterprises.

At this launch ceremony, each supporting institution presented customized support measures for leading enterprises targeting technology development, commercialization, global expansion, and regulatory exemptions.

As main content, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Evaluation and Planning (KEIT) will pursue customized R&D support, the Korea Industrial Development Organization (KIAT) will advance commercialization capability enhancement support, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) will provide global expansion support, and the Materials and Components Supply Response Support Center will present regulatory improvement and corporate difficulty resolution support.

Lee Kyung-ho, the Materials, Components, and Equipment Cooperation Division Director of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, "Materials, components, and equipment leading enterprises are companies that possess the nation's top capabilities and future growth potential in core technologies for materials, components, and equipment, and are expected to play a significant role in stabilizing our country's supply chain," and added, "The government will actively review opinions from companies presented at today's meeting and reflect them in support for leading enterprises and planning of new projects, and we hope that the council will become a venue for diverse solidarity and collaboration among leading enterprises going forward."