The government and private sector plan to invest more than 50 trillion won in research and development projects this year.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced on Wednesday that the government and private firms plan to spend this year a total of 52-and-a-half trillion won on research and development projects. The figure is up more than eleven percent from last year.

Of the total investments, around 28 percent, or some 15 trillion won, will come from the government.

The ministry said the government plans to gradually expand its investments in research and development, citing that compared to advanced nations, South Korea’s investment in R&D remains low.

According to the ministry, the government’s investments in research and development accounted for 41-and-a-half percent of all such investments in France, nearly 37 percent in Britain and nearly 33 percent in the United States.