Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn held a conference on August 13 at the Textile Center in Seoul with Korea’s textile and fashion companies and relevant experts, where he announced the Textile and Fashion Industry Competitiveness Strategy (“Strategy”) and discussed industry issues and future directions.
The Strategy was established with aim to effectively respond to the following industry trends: the rapid growth of the industrial textile market, the accelerating demand for eco-friendly transition led by advanced countries, and the diffusion of the digital transformation (DX) across all areas, including product planning, production, and logistics.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) is focused on leveraging the Strategy to nurture advanced industrial textiles, facilitate the eco-friendly transition of the textile and fashion value chain, diffuse the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology, and bolster the textile and fashion industrial base. The objective is to help the domestic industry overcome production contractions as latecomer countries are gaining ground and by 2030, expand the current 2-3 percent global market share of industrial and eco-friendly textiles to 10 percent and raise the level of digital transformation from the current 35 percent to 60 percent, to develop Korea into a textile and fashion powerhouse.
First up, MOTIE is aiming to upgrade the textile and fashion industry by nurturing the advanced industrial textiles sector. To this end, the ministry plans to prioritize the development of key technologies in advanced industrial textiles to world-class level by 2030, including high-performance aramids, high-strength carbon fibers, extreme-condition resistant marine fibers, import-dependent advanced eco-friendly textiles, and next-generation electronic communication textiles. Moreover, starting in the latter half of this year, an Industrial Textile Alliance will be launched to uncover promising products and technologies, while a Tech Textile Product Certification Evaluation Support Center will be established next year to assist the credibility verification on industrial textile quality and performance. Meanwhile, a KRW 2.9 trillion policy funding will be used this year for supporting the technical consulting and facility investment efforts of apparel companies that incorporate industrial textiles in their product portfolio.
Second, MOTIE will assist the eco-friendly transition of the textile and fashion industry value chain, for which the ministry aims to secure technologies on fiber-to-fiber textile recycling, plant-based vegan leather and such biomass fibers, and biodegradable (at least 90 percent) fiber manufacturing by 2030. Not only that, but ₩31 billion will be injected into developing technologies for waterless dyeing, wastewater reduction, and improving energy efficiency to support the green and low-carbon transition of textile production processes, and also go towards providing waste heat recovery facility to more than 200 SMEs by 2026. Furthermore, the ministry plans to establish and distribute the “Carbon Emissions Measurement Standardization Model” by 2026 and introduce the K-Eco Design Guidelines in 2025 (to enforce in 2027) to promote the recycling and use of eco-friendly materials in textile and apparel manufacturing.
Third, MOTIE aims to accelerate the application of AI technology and digital transformation. By 2026, the ministry intends to develop an AI system for harnessing data and AI in new product planning that would shorten the design period by over 80 percent, while also laying the initial groundwork this year for a Connected Micro Factory that would enable high-speed production based on business collaborations. Automation facilities will be supplied to over 250 companies by 2028 for processes that are repetitive and in severe lack of manpower. Two more Meta Fashion Playgrounds will be added to the current one to expand the space for experiencing and creating to support the growth of the meta fashion market.
Fourth, the ministry will continue to strengthen the textile and fashion industry base. By 2028, 1,000 professional master's and doctoral graduates in eco-friendly and digital will be trained to meet the rising demand for talent in such high-tech areas across the textile and fashion industry. In addition, MOTIE plans to engage in cross-ministerial consultations on measures for obtaining globally recognized sustainability certifications for overseas market penetration, participating in more international exhibitions, and expanding the use of quality homegrown textiles in public sectors.
At the conference today, Minister Ahn highlighted that Korea’s textile and fashion industry is the nation’s livelihood industry in which 60,000 companies generate ₩44 trillion worth of production value, hire 260,000 employees, and involve over 500,000 workers in related retail and wholesale businesses, as well as a future industry for supplying key materials in advanced areas. He vowed that the Government will closely communicate with the textile and fashion industry, while giving active support to build up the sector’s competitiveness.