The government of South Korea announced that it will help stimulate the local industrial design sector by allocating 100 billion won (US$ 86.3 million) for research and development by 2012.
The plan calls for revamping the government’s fund management rules so policymakers can set aside 1 percent of state R&D funds for industrial design, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.
The measures come as a drop in business-related investments caused the size of the local industrial design market to fall to 5.2 trillion won in 2008 from 6.8 trillion won in 2006.
