Ministry of SMEs and Startups Launches Initiative to Discover 50 Win-Win Models for 'So-Bu-Jang'

7th Large and Small-Medium Business Win-Win Council Meeting Held
Minister Kwon Chil-seung: "Aim to Leap from 'Technology Independence' to 'Strong Nation' in Materials, Parts, and Equipment"

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 3rd that it will discover and support 50 win-win models between large and small-medium enterprises in the materials, parts, and equipment sector by 2024 to promote development in the field.

On the same day, the Ministry held the '7th Large and Small-Medium Enterprises Win-Win Council' at Jusung Engineering, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, to discuss these plans.

This meeting was the first held since Minister Kwon Chil-seung took office. Minister Kwon inspected the field by linking the government's measures to strengthen competitiveness in materials, parts, and equipment following Japan's export restrictions (July 2019) and the Materials, Parts, and Equipment 2.0 strategy with this year's support plan for materials, parts, and equipment by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The council focused on discussions regarding four win-win models, including secondary batteries.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups began the win-win model project between large and small-medium enterprises in 2020 and has selected nine win-win models to date. In this meeting, four additional win-win models were discovered in the fields of electric vehicles, secondary batteries, liquefied natural gas (LNG) turbines, and optical sensors. It added that it plans to discover and support 37 more win-win models by 2024.

Meanwhile, through the ‘Materials, Parts, and Equipment Strong Small Enterprises 100’ project, which accepts applications for support until the end of April, the Ministry plans to select 20 startup companies this year. The plan is to select a total of 100 startups as support targets by 2024.

Minister Kwon Chil-seung said, “Due to recent changes in the external environment such as the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, US-China trade conflicts, and intensified protectionism, companies are facing a situation where they must actively respond to the reorganization of global supply chains for survival. If the current goal has been ‘technological independence’ such as the technological self-reliance of core materials, parts, and equipment items, going forward, the aim is to leap forward as a ‘materials, parts, and equipment powerhouse’ leading the world, and building a cooperative ecosystem for materials, parts, and equipment is essential for this.”

Hwang Cheol-ju, Chairman of the Large and Small-Medium Enterprises Win-Win Council, stated, “The Win-Win Council will continue to strive to connect small and medium enterprises with large enterprises as a central hub so that they can secure world-class competitiveness.”

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