The Ministry of Science and ICT said on Tuesday that it will spend 730-point-eight billion won, or 55-point-three U.S. dollars, this year to foster the local software industry with a focus on software as a service(SaaS).

The ministry plans to spend 121-point-nine billion won on the cloud computing industry and two-point-five billion won to help South Korean companies advance into the global market in an effort to support the growth of local software companies.

Second vice science minister Kang Do-hyun unveiled the plan during his meeting with the country’s leading software companies in Seoul.

The minister said that it will be difficult for such companies to survive in the times of artificial intelligence(AI) innovation without transforming software into SaaS, vowing to provide active government support for their advance into the global market. 

The meeting was attended by the Korea Software Industry Association President Joh Jun-hee and executives of major software companies.