Deputy Minister Kang Sung-cheon Attends APEC SME Ministerial Meeting... Adoption of Joint Declaration

Kang Sung-cheon, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, is giving a briefing on the second rapid payment of the Hope Recovery Fund on August 30th this year at the briefing room of the Seoul Government Complex Annex in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Junhyung] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Kang Sungcheon, Vice Minister of the Ministry, attended the 27th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) SME Ministerial Meeting held via video conference on the 9th. APEC is the world's largest economic forum with participation from 21 Asia-Pacific countries.

At this meeting, participants discussed the theme of "Strengthening SME Resilience in the COVID-19 Era," covering topics such as ▲ effective economic recovery through digitalization ▲ inclusive growth promotion measures for SME recovery.

Vice Minister Kang shared the Ministry’s representative policies aimed at enhancing the resilience of SMEs and small business owners and supporting digital transformation. He stated, "To expand the base of SME digitalization, we plan to distribute 30,000 smart factories by 2022," adding, "We are also promoting advanced smart manufacturing policies such as the AI Manufacturing Platform (KAMP)."

He continued, "We are making every effort to support the digitalization of small business owners with goals to establish 500 digital traditional markets and distribute 100,000 smart stores by 2025," emphasizing, "Education is also important for small business owners who lack access to digital technologies." He also introduced related policies such as digital education for vulnerable groups and digital managers.

The SME ministers from participating countries adopted a joint declaration emphasizing member cooperation and support for small business owners and SMEs under the 'Pururajaya Vision 2040.' The declaration included ▲ improving SME finance and access to global supply chains to overcome the COVID-19 crisis ▲ digital transformation to strengthen SME resilience ▲ recovery support for vulnerable groups including women.

Kang Sungcheon, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "It is a time when cooperation among APEC countries is necessary for SMEs to efficiently respond to the rapidly changing digital economic environment," and added, "Korea will continue to share know-how and experiences to strengthen SME resilience in solidarity with APEC."

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