Record High Number of Applicants for the '2021 SME Merit Awards'

Document Submissions Increase by Over 50% Year-on-Year to 1,020 Cases

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The number of applications for the '2021 Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Merit Awards,' which encourage and honor small business owners who have contributed to the national economy, has reached an all-time high.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Park Young-sun) and the Korea Federation of SMEs (Chairman Kim Ki-moon) announced on the 11th that a total of 1,020 applications were received for the '2021 SME Merit Awards' from November 12 last year to the 5th of this month.

This figure represents an increase of more than 50% compared to the 665 applications received the previous year, indicating that the 'SME Merit Awards' have established themselves as the most coveted national award among small business owners, according to the Korea Federation of SMEs.

The SME Merit Awards will undergo review and evaluation and will be presented at the 'Korea SME Convention,' held during SME Week (the third week of May every year).

The award categories include ▲ Exemplary Small Business Owner ▲ Exemplary Worker ▲ Contributor to SME Development ▲ Outstanding Supporting Organization. Through the evaluation process, recipients will be awarded Industrial Medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron, Stone Tower), Industrial Decorations, Presidential Citations, Prime Minister’s Citations, and Ministerial Citations.

Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, stated, "The high level of interest among small business owners in the SME Merit Awards is reflected in the record number of applications." He added, "In response, we hope the government will expand the scale of the awards to encourage and instill pride in small business owners who have been exhausted by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic."

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