Win-Win Cooperation Among Large, Medium, and Small Enterprises Drives Joint Growth in Exports

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] A small and medium-sized equipment manufacturer that succeeded in developing 5th generation (5G) base station rectifiers and batteries won a project through fierce bidding competition. However, problems arose during the explosion-proof certification process (a separate explosion-proof certification is required in Japan), putting the contract at risk. This issue was resolved with support from the large corporation Pantech C&I Engineering, which possesses the relevant technology, enabling export performance of 3 billion KRW this year.

This is a representative success case of last year's 'Large-Small Business Joint Overseas Expansion Support Project.' The project utilizes the overseas infrastructure and networks of large corporations (leading companies) to plan and support overseas marketing and market development activities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that lack overseas expansion capabilities.

On the 9th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it will recruit leading companies for this year's 'Large-Small Business Joint Overseas Expansion Support Project.' Through last year's project, 1,542 SMEs were supported in 75 tasks, achieving a total export amount of 198.1 billion KRW (as of November 2021).

Large corporations and public institutions wishing to participate as leading companies can apply under three types: Hallyu-linked overseas marketing support, overseas home shopping broadcast support, and overseas base utilization joint expansion support.

Hallyu-linked overseas marketing support involves culture content-specialized large corporations planning and operating Hallyu events as leading companies, while SMEs hold promotional events and export consultation meetings targeting event visitors to pioneer overseas sales channels.

Overseas home shopping broadcast support selects excellent SME products with high success potential in local markets through domestic home shopping product managers, supporting market selection, broadcast consultation (consulting), video production support, and overseas home shopping broadcast scheduling.

Overseas base utilization joint expansion support involves large corporations that have established bases such as corporations and factories locally supporting SMEs step-by-step from overseas order negotiations, market research, product and technology localization, to local corporation establishment and aftercare.

Starting this year, a strategic task category will be newly established and piloted to allow participation of projects requiring factory establishment and large-scale facility investment, with a total project cost of 3 billion KRW or more and an increased SME support limit. Once the selection of leading companies (large corporations, public institutions) is completed, recruitment announcements for participating companies (SMEs) will be individually notified according to each leading company's task schedule.

Kang Ki-seong, Director of the Global Growth Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "Through the Large-Small Business Joint Overseas Expansion Project, we will create a foundation for win-win cooperation where large corporations support SME exports, and we will actively strive to produce excellent results in the future."

Large corporations wishing to participate as leading companies in the Large-Small Business Joint Overseas Expansion Support Project can check detailed information such as announcements, project procedures, and application forms on the Large-Small Business Agriculture and Fisheries Cooperation Foundation website.

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