Budget of 75.6 Billion Won Allocated for Supporting Small Businesses and Traditional Markets

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 19th that it will promote support projects for small business owners and traditional markets with a budget of 75.6 billion KRW secured through the third supplementary budget.

These projects focus on helping small business owners overcome the crisis caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and support their entry into digital and non-face-to-face sectors to respond to the post-COVID era.

First, to overcome the crisis caused by COVID-19, loan and store demolition support projects will be implemented. With 50 billion KRW in policy funds secured, the Small Enterprise and Market Service will provide direct loans to low-credit small business owners with credit ratings of 7 or below. The loan limit is up to 10 million KRW per business, and the loan interest rate and period will be announced separately.

Additionally, 9 billion KRW will be provided to cover store demolition costs for small business owners who have closed or plan to close their businesses. Up to 2 million KRW per business will be supported to offer practical assistance to small business owners considering closure.

Projects to support the digitalization and non-face-to-face transformation of small business owners in preparation for the post-COVID era will also be promoted.

The Small Business Smart Store Technology Dissemination Project will receive 8.4 billion KRW in support. Thirty-five small business-dense commercial districts nationwide will be designated as smart pilot shopping districts, where stores within the shopping areas will introduce smart technologies (IoT, AR/VR, AI, etc.) to innovate management and services and secure competitiveness.

Furthermore, 3 billion KRW will be allocated to the Smart Workshop Technology Dissemination Project, which integrates digital technology into small manufacturers primarily engaged in manual work to promote smartification. Additionally, 4.5 billion KRW will be provided for the Work Environment Improvement Cost Support Project aimed at improving working conditions and productivity.

A new project to promote digitalization in traditionally offline-centered traditional markets will receive 760 million KRW. To help traditional market merchants, who tend to be older on average, advance online and bridge the digital gap, digital managers such as online MDs will be dispatched to traditional markets to support online sales channels and delivery service consulting for markets and shopping districts.

Kwon Daesu, Director of Small Business Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “The projects announced this time were prepared to enhance small business owners’ ability to respond to the digital and non-face-to-face environmental changes after overcoming the COVID-19 crisis. We plan to actively work to help small business owners overcome the crisis and improve their competitiveness.”

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