Seoul, Oct 16 (IANS): The government will provide low-interest loans and other support worth 8.8 trillion won ($6.45 billion) for the semiconductor industry by next year in an effort to strengthen the competitiveness of the advanced sector, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

It is part of execution plans for the comprehensive support package worth 26 trillion won announced by President Yoon Suk Yeol in June for the country's key industry amid intensifying global competition, reports Yonhap news agency.

Under the plan, the government will provide 4.7 trillion won by 2025 through low-interest loans for chipmakers and funding programs designed to assist fabless and chip material companies so as to boost the overall industry ecosystem, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The government will set aside an additional 1.7 trillion won of budget next year to conduct massive research and development projects to secure advanced technologies in chip clouding and packaging fields, among other things, as well as to implement programs to nurture talent.

Some 2.4 trillion won will be extended for infrastructure construction for the envisioned semiconductor cluster in the city of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

South Korea is working to build the world's largest chip cluster in Yongin, where Samsung Electronics Co., SK hynix Inc. and other chipmakers plan to invest 622 trillion won combined to build 16 new fabs.

"The government will best support the chip industry so as for chipmakers to lead the global market," Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said during an economy-related ministers' meeting.

"We will actively take part in discussions in the National Assembly for enacting a special legislation for the semiconductor industry. Our focus will also be on beefing up measures to protect startups from technology theft," he added.