The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 17th a project for ‘Improving Textile Fashion Technology and Building a Knowledge-based Fashion Industry,’ investing 18 billion won this year to strengthen the global competitiveness of the textile fashion industry.
This project focuses on promoting eco-friendly transition, expanding AI and digital infrastructure, and securing export competitiveness, with a total of 15 tasks eligible for support.
Through this, the Ministry plans to support the creation of a sustainable circular ecosystem, including the use of eco-friendly materials and promoting recycling, while also supporting the development of AI-based design solutions and automation facilities to improve the efficiency of fashion design processes. Additionally, for companies seeking to enter global markets, they will actively support obtaining international certifications, participating in exhibitions and export consultations, and prototype production.
Project announcement details can be found on the Ministry of Industry (www.motie.go.kr), Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (www.kiat.or.kr), and Subsidy Integration Portal (www.bojo.go.kr), and interested companies and institutions can submit applications from March 4 to March 18.
The Ministry is concurrently implementing various policies such as building a sustainable circular textile fashion ecosystem and supporting green & clean factory conversion for the eco-friendly and digital transformation of the textile fashion industry.
Also, as part of the ‘Textile Fashion Industry Competitiveness Strengthening Strategy’ announced last August, they are focusing on transforming the textile fashion industry into a high-value-added industry by activating fashion tech and AI-based automation systems.
In particular, this support project includes digital transformation tasks such as developing AI-based textile manufacturing solutions, building textile fashion big data networks, establishing rapid footwear manufacturing support systems, and developing fashion creator collaboration platforms, which are expected to enhance productivity and global market responsiveness through technological innovation.
This project will also expand support for companies hoping to pioneer global markets. Major support items include fostering global brands, supporting high-value-added textile material production and exports, and supporting participation in overseas exhibitions and export consultations.
Additionally, they will concurrently pursue R&D investments such as the polyester composite fiber recycling core technology development project (2025-2029, 35.2 billion won investment), and plan to strengthen government-level support for building a sustainable textile fashion industry.
Textile fashion-related companies and institutions must submit online applications through the Subsidy Integration Portal (www.bojo.go.kr) from March 4 to March 18, along with offline document submission.
Submitted projects will undergo evaluation and final selection by March 31, with subsidies to be disbursed from April.
A Ministry official stated, “Eco-friendly and digital transformation are essential for the textile fashion industry to be competitive in the global market,” adding, “Through this support, we will actively help domestic textile fashion companies accelerate technological innovation and expand their export markets.”