Reasons for Proposal
While Korea has raised its competitiveness in the manufacturing industry to the highest level in the world with opening policies and continuous technological innovations by successfully seeking an economic development strategy centered on manufacturing since its development period in the 1960s, competitiveness and productivity in Korea’s service industry are lower than those in other advanced countries or Korea’s manufacturing industry. As such, this Act aims to prepare support policies to expand service industry R&D investment, which can consistently improve the service industry’s competitiveness and productivity, reinforce infrastructure in the service industry by promoting professional research and educational institutions, establish and operate the Service Industry Advancement Committee to review the government-wide Service Industry Development Master Plan and discuss related policies, foster an implementation system to develop the service industry, and thereby lay the institutional foundation to help the service industry develop as a driving force for the Korean economy.
Details
A. Establish, inspect, and evaluate the Service Industry Development Master Plan and its action plans (Articles 5 through 7)
Require the government to establish the Service Industry Development Master Plan, which sets forth mid- and long-term goals and basic directions to develop the service industry, every 5 years upon review by the Service Industry Advancement Committee, the head of relevant central administrative agencies to establish and implement annual action plans, and the Service Industry Advancement Committee to inspect their progress.
B. Establish and operate the Service Industry Advancement Committee (Articles 9 through 11)
Place the Service Industry Advancement Committee under the authority of the Ministry of Economy and Finance to discuss and coordinate major policies and plans to advance the service industry and evaluate their progress, designate the Minister of Economy and Finance and a member from the private sector as co-chairs, and allow the Committee to organize working committees to support its work.
C. Encourage R&D investment in the service industry (Articles 14 and 15)
Allow the government to recognize R&D outcomes and provide support required to promote the commercialization of R&D outcomes such as subsidizing, financing, or market finding in an effort to newly establish the concept of service industry R&D, which reflects the service industry’s characteristics beyond the traditional manufacturing/science technology-oriented R&D, and attract more R&D investment.
D. Promote standardization in the service industry (Article 17)
Promote the establishment and dissemination of service standardization by improving transparency and professionalism in service to increase quality and productivity.
E. Promote the use of information and communications technologies and services in the service industry (Article 18)
Allow the government to establish and implement policies required to actively use information and communications technologies and services in the service industry and discover and support best practices.
F. Prepare the basis for a support system required to develop the service industry (Articles 19 through 21)
Require the government to select key service industries to foster systematic support for service business startups and their overseas expansion, prepare the basis to support financial and human resources required for startups as well as tax breaks, and continue to discover and improve the system that currently puts the service industry at a disadvantage compared to the manufacturing industry.
G. Designate educational institutions specialized in the service industry (Article 23)
Allow the government to establish and pursue policies required to train professionals in the service industry and designate and support institutions/organizations, high schools, universities, and other educational institutions in the service industry as educational institutions specialized in the service industry.
H. Designate service industry professional research centers (Article 24)
Allow the Minister of Strategy and Finance to designate and support professional research centers that can perform related surveys and research and make policy suggestions to seek development in the service industry upon review by the Service Industry Advancement Committee.
I. Prepare and manage statistics about the service industry (Article 26)
Require the Minister of Strategy and Finance to consult with the Commissioner of Statistics Korea and prepare and manage statistics about the service industry to efficiently establish measures to develop the service industry.
