Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Proactive Administration to Overcome COVID-19

Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is making a presentation on the achievements of the Regulatory Free Zone and the selection of win-win cooperation products between large and small-medium enterprises at the Government Seoul Office Annex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 18th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] On the 20th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it selected five outstanding cases of proactive administration in the first half of this year, including the ‘Emergency Financial Support for Small Business Owners.’ Proactive administration refers to public officials ▲acting for the public interest ▲based on creativity and expertise ▲and actively handling their duties.

First, the government introduced the ‘10 million won emergency loan’ system, which provides direct funding to small business owners struggling due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This measure was taken in response to delays in fund disbursement caused by a surge in policy fund applications.

As of the 6th, direct loan applications totaled 73,000 cases (amounting to 765.6 billion won), of which 69,000 cases (721.2 billion won) were disbursed.

Additionally, the system was improved to expedite financial support by outsourcing guarantee screening tasks to the private sector.

The average daily number of guarantee certificates issued increased from 2,784 in the first week of March to 7,403 in the first week of last month, and further to 20,393 in the fourth week of the same month.

Concerned about the sharp decline in sales of small business owners and self-employed individuals due to weakened consumer sentiment, the public sector introduced and implemented prepayment for the first time. To promote the spread of prepayment culture in the private sector, the ‘Good Prepayment National Campaign’ has been underway from the 27th of last month until the 26th of this month.

Moreover, from last month until July, the ministry is intensively supporting non-face-to-face export marketing for about 400 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As countries worldwide have locked down due to the COVID-19 crisis, normal overseas sales channels for Korean SMEs have become difficult. Utilizing non-face-to-face networking methods such as online video export consultations and virtual investment briefings, the ministry has helped resolve overseas sales difficulties for exporting SMEs.

With the global demand for Korean diagnostic kit companies surging, dedicated export personnel were assigned to each company to link government export support policies, and support was provided for overseas expansion of diagnostic kit manufacturers by connecting demand sources and simplifying the Brand K selection process.

As a result, the number of countries exporting diagnostic kits increased more than threefold from just 33 countries at the beginning of exports to 109 countries as of the 5th.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, “We will continue to promote proactive administration and regulatory innovation for SMEs and small business owners struggling due to COVID-19, and will continuously manage outstanding cases already in operation to produce results that the public can feel. In the second half of this year, we plan to further accelerate proactive administration to lead the post-COVID era by revitalizing the digital economy and fostering non-face-to-face industries.”

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