Kakao Discusses COVID-19 SME Response with OECD

Considered a Survival Issue for SMEs' Digitalization

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Kakao announced on the 17th that it participated as an operating committee member in the OECD's 'Digitalization Support Initiative for Small and Medium Enterprises (D4SME)' to discuss recovery measures for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) stagnated due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

D4SME is a global consultative body launched by the OECD's Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development. It was established to share academic knowledge and expertise so that SMEs in various fields can receive digital support.

Kakao was officially invited to participate as an operating committee member following its introduction of services and policies contributing to the digitalization of SMEs at the first D4SME meeting held last November at the OECD headquarters in Paris, France.

Kakao is the only business partner participating in the operating committee from Korea. Globally, a total of three companies, including Amazon and Facebook, are included. Kakao plans to participate in all activities and key decision-making processes of D4SME and share Kakao's digital win-win cases with the world.

At the meeting held via video conference the day before, discussions were held under the theme of 'Digitalization of SMEs to cope with the COVID-19 crisis.' D4SME regarded the digitalization of SMEs due to COVID-19 not merely as a productivity issue but as a matter of survival.

Kakao also agreed at the meeting that the digital gap between SMEs and large enterprises must be bridged to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, and explained its considerations and policy directions to support SMEs facing difficulties in digital transformation due to lack of technology and infrastructure.

Kim Dae-won, head of Kakao's policy team who attended the meeting, said, "As an operating committee member of D4SME, I will collect policies and cases conducted to help the digitalization of SMEs in various regions and explore additional initiatives Kakao can undertake to fulfill its social responsibility."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.