109 Dedicated Contact Points to Resolve Regulatory Difficulties for SMEs to Be Established in Public Institutions

Minister Park Young-sun of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is attending the 'Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting' held on the 25th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Dedicated channels to resolve regulatory difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be established in 109 public institutions.

On the 25th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, along with the Small and Medium Enterprise Ombudsman and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, announced the "2nd Public Institution On-site Empathy SME Regulatory Difficulty Improvement Plan," which includes this initiative.

This measure consists of 67 regulatory innovations related to four major areas of public institutions (alleviating management cost burdens, easing inclusive procurement regulations, innovating enterprise empathy procedures, and resolving enterprise-friendly difficulties) and 48 cases of spreading key innovation improvements. It focuses on supporting the survival and growth of SMEs facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 crisis, and has concentrated on identifying and improving unreasonable regulatory difficulties based on the principles of fairness, equity, responsiveness, and transparency so that companies can accept them on-site.

This is the second improvement plan prepared this year through collaboration among public institutions, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the SME Ombudsman, following the first announcement of regulatory innovation measures for public institutions, which were a blind spot for regulatory innovation, in December last year.

Specifically, key regulatory improvement cases related to alleviating management cost burdens include rationalizing usage fees, improving guarantee fees, and rationalizing regulatory criteria for selecting support targets. For example, the uniformly high usage fee rate (5% for non-cultivation use) for construction land lease contracts will be changed to the same level as national property to reduce the burden on SMEs.

Regarding easing inclusive procurement regulations, improvement measures such as improving qualification review criteria, expanding small-scale negotiated contracts, and rationalizing post-management will be promoted.

In terms of innovating enterprise empathy procedures, reductions in application documents, improvements in support and review procedures, and diversification of payment methods are expected.

To resolve enterprise-friendly difficulties, measures such as easing the burden of selecting local franchise stores, abolishing promissory notes, easing the burden of bond preservation measures, and expanding support will be implemented. For example, small business owners in Gangwon-do who register as Hi-One Point local franchise stores will have the residency period and business operation period conditions for registration in abandoned mining areas abolished, thereby expanding the scope of participation.

Additionally, 11 cases of procurement regulatory innovation were actively shared and negotiated with other public institutions, improving common regulations across 48 public institutions. Innovation cases include expanding the scope of advance payment in procurement, reducing contract deposits, easing restrictions on qualification review performance, easing the burden of stamp tax payments, and rationalizing construction and service contract requirements.

The Public Institution Enterprise Growth Response Center, a dedicated channel for resolving SME regulatory difficulties, is confirmed to be established in 109 public institutions within the year, and 121 public institutions (including 38 already in place) will establish and operate corporate complaint protection and service charters.

Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said, "As part of the proactive administration of public institutions, this will be a regulatory improvement that companies can feel directly on-site."

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