S. Korea aims to double national logistics market to $15.6 bn by ’26

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea will double the size of the country’s logistics market to 20 trillion won ($15.6 billion) by 2026 with bold investments in building an artificial intelligent (AI)-supported logistics infrastructure and adoption of new mobility technologies such as robots and drones for fast and convenient deliveries.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Friday unveiled its five-year plan to advance the country’s logistics industry with deregulation measures to expedite the adoption of robots and drones for fast delivery services.

It will first amend a related law next year to allow future mobility technologies such as robots and drones to be used in delivery and invest 8.63 billion won by 2027 to build autonomous robot delivery system in residential areas and develop AI-backed logistics operation system.

The country expects its logistics market will grow from 9.8 trillion won in 2020 to 20 trillion won in 2026 and 305,000 new jobs in the field would be created under the plan.

In addition, it will develop smart fulfillment services covering goods delivery, storage, packing, and inventory management.

“We will push for logistics innovation through cutting-edge mobility solutions based on the framework plans,” said Koo Heon-sang, director of logistics policy at the transport ministry.