South Korea plans to plough 35.5 trillion won (£20bn) into renewable energy, nuclear power and emission reduction projects in a co-ordinated bid to boost exports and domestic employment.
The south east Asian nation aims to claim a 10 per cent share of the global green energy market by the end of the decade, and boast one of the world’s top five energy industries, according to a statement issued today by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
The government will commit 18.2 trillion won (£10bn) of investment, and aims to match the funding with private sector investment.
It estimates that, by 2020, the programme will have generated 202 trillion won (£114bn) of export revenue, 59 trillion won (£33bn) of domestic sales, and created 914,000 jobs.
South Korea has brought in a swathe of green policies and spent 3.77 trillion won (£2bn) between 2006 and 2010 on developing low carbon sectors in a bid to curb emissions and cut expensive oil imports.
The country has spent around one trillion won (£565m) this year on subsidies for renewable energy projects, and released details last month of plans to impose binding emissions reduction targets on around 450 of its largest companies ahead of a potential carbon trading scheme starting in 2015.
The private sector has also taken up the baton. Samsung will invest 7.6 trillion won (£4bn) from 2021 to build a green energy industrial park, LG is planning to put around eight trillion won (£4.5bn) into ‘green new business’ sectors by 2015, and Daewoo is reportedly considering a takeover bid for German wind turbine manufacturer Bard.
