South Korea is stepping up efforts to develop its autonomous driving industry, aiming to bring it on par with China and the United States. The most ambitious initiative is to take place in the southwestern city of Gwangju, where the entire city is designated as experimental space for self-driving vehicles, providing an opportunity to develop related technologies and assess prospects of commercial deployment. When the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the plan anda 60 billion won (around $41 million) investment to deploy 200 autonomous driving vehicles, it drew attention from both automotive and tech sectors — not just because of the scale, but also because the project was expected to spur advances in fields such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics. But as the April deadline the ministry set to select participating companies draws closer, smaller firms and startups are growing increasingly concerned, particularly over vehicle procurement. Hyundai Motor is the sole supplier of test vehicles for the project, as one condition of participation in the sta