Presidential Committee on Jobs announces plans to boost job creation

The Presidential Committee on Jobs held a meeting at SK Hynix semiconductor plant.As part of efforts to create more jobs, they announced measures seeking to nurture five key industries in the country.Kim Hye-sung has the details. Autos, semiconductors, IoT home appliances, energy, bio and health. These are the five key industries that the government plans to nurture as a way to strengthen Korea's manufacturing sector and create up to one-hundred-7 thousand jobs by 2022. In the auto sector, companies will invest four-point-four billion U.S. dollars to develop electric, hydrogen and driverless cars, and build battery stations. The investment is expected to create 4-thousand-six hundred jobs.The government vowed to support auto companies through an increase in car subsidies As for semiconductors and displays, the main driver of Korea's exports... companies will invest 85 billion dollars in 15 projects that include expansion of semiconductor factory lines... to develop more efficient next-generation semiconductors. In Internet-of-Things home appliances, companies will invest in nine projects that include the development of IoT platforms and testbeds. To help support such private sector investment, the Presidential Committee on Jobs said the government will provide customized support through speeding up license approvals, improving infrastructure and easing regulations. Such measures come amid sluggish job growth, with unemployment hitting an eight-year high of four-point-two percent in August. "Investment in driverless cars and next-generation semiconductors. This is a move in the right direction given the sluggish traditional manufacturing industries like shipbuilding. But for it to actually succeed in the long run, it needs to be more detailed, and should nurture talents. Investment in basic science, not just R&D in commercialized science, would be key." Of the five sectors, energy and biohealth were selected as new industries to invest in.There are around 70 projects in energy including the nurturing of renewables and smart energy.In biohealth, the government plans to establish a bio big data system to help accelerate innovation by pharmaceutical and medical device companies, and said details will be announced later this year.Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.