7 out of 10 SMEs Struggle with 2-Week Quarantine After Overseas Business Trips

SME Central Association, Survey on Small Business Difficulties Due to Immigration Restrictions

On the 16th of last month, when the air route between Incheon and Wuhan, which had been closed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection, was reopened after 8 months, the departure board at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 showed the departure of a passenger flight bound for Wuhan, China. / Yeongjongdo = Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Seven out of ten small and medium-sized export enterprises nationwide reported significant inconvenience due to the '2-week self-quarantine' guideline when traveling abroad for business trips.

According to the "Survey on Difficulties Faced by Small and Medium Enterprises Due to Entry and Exit Restrictions," conducted by the Korea Federation of SMEs from the 21st to the 29th of last month targeting 300 export SMEs, 7 out of 10 companies cited '2-week self-quarantine upon domestic entry (71%)' as the biggest difficulty during overseas business trips (multiple responses allowed). This was followed by 'employees avoiding business trips due to COVID-19 infection concerns (37.7%)', 'lack of regular flight services (22.3%)', and 'lack of information on overseas entry and exit regulations (21.7%)'.

Domestic entrants are generally required to undergo self or facility quarantine for 14 days, but quarantine exemption certificates can be issued if the visit is deemed valid for important business or humanitarian purposes. However, only 22.7% of SMEs were aware of this system.

This year, 84.0% of SMEs responded that they were unable to go on overseas business trips.

Among companies with business trip experience, the reasons for trips (multiple responses allowed) were led by 'marketing to discover new buyers' at 43.8%, followed by 'participation in overseas exhibitions (29.2%)', 'negotiation of detailed specifications for export products (12.5%)', and 'on-site installation and commissioning of export products (10.4%)'.

Only 27.0% of SMEs reported having experience utilizing government policies related to entry and exit restrictions. The utilized policies (multiple responses allowed) were 'non-face-to-face online marketing (92.6%)', 'businessperson fast track (6.2%)', and 'chartered flights (2.5%)', in that order.

The biggest difficulty in utilizing government policies related to overseas entry and exit restrictions was 'low accessibility due to lack of promotion (55.7%)', followed by 'complex paperwork (19.3%)', 'absence of integrated service windows (6.7%)', and 'slow policy implementation (6.0%)'.

Regarding government support measures that should be prioritized for overseas entry and exit restrictions (multiple responses allowed), the most common response was 'exemption from 14-day self-quarantine for businesspersons upon return from business trips (56.3%)', followed by 'support for non-face-to-face export business (45.0%)', 'real-time information provision on overseas entry and exit restrictions (27.7%)', and 'cost support during self-quarantine (26.7%)'.

Choo Moon-gap, Head of the Economic Policy Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, stated, "Although the government has introduced quarantine exemption systems and fast track measures to resolve difficulties caused by domestic and international entry and exit restrictions due to COVID-19, these are operated in a limited manner, and SMEs still face challenges. Considering the economic structure of South Korea, which is highly dependent on trade, it is necessary to ease quarantine measures such as shortening the quarantine period for businesspersons and exempting quarantine if test results are negative upon entry after visiting low-risk countries."

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