SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korea will invest 200 billion won (178 million U.S. dollars) in its computer graphics (CG) industry by 2013, the government said on Thursday.

    The investment is an attempt by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports to put South Korea as the global market leader in CG production, especially three dimensional (3D) technologies in cinema, through advanced equipment support, extensive training programs, and heavy tax breaks to lessen production costs for domestic film producers, the ministry said.

    Major competitors in Canada, Singapore, and New Zealand currently receive massive tax breaks from its respective governments, putting South Korean producers at a disadvantage, it said.

    South Korea has already raised its CG production capability to about 82 percent of the Hollywood level and hopes to surpass the 90 percent level by 2013 through this project, as estimates suggest winning a mere 10 percent of total Hollywood CG orders (2.7 billion U.S. dollars) could potentially bring in 12 times the amount of South Korea's 2008 net CG export revenues (2.2 million U.S. dollars), according to the ministry.