Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Recruiting 200 '2022 Global Hidden Champions'

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 12th that it is recruiting companies to participate in the '2022 Global Strong Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development Project.' The application period is until the 9th of next month.

Global Strong SMEs is an export SME designation system by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups that discovers promising export SMEs and fosters them as export-leading companies and regionally driven representative companies in collaboration with local governments and regional related organizations. The application requirements are companies with annual sales of over 10 billion KRW and export volume exceeding 5 million USD (approximately 5.97 billion KRW). Companies designated as Global Strong SMEs this year can receive customized linked support such as export marketing and preferential loan interest rates provided by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, local governments, and private financial institutions.

Since 2011, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups has discovered 1,643 export strong SMEs up to last year. In the previous year, 200 new Global Strong SMEs were discovered, and support was provided to 803 companies including 12.1 billion KRW for overseas marketing, 6.9 billion KRW for local government specialized programs, and 13.2 billion KRW for research and development (R&D).

Support Details for Global Small Giants in 2022.
[Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups]

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups explained that the support outcomes can be confirmed through excellent cases. 'Kkumbee,' designated as a Global Strong SME in 2018, is a representative example. Over the past four years, Kkumbee has expanded into 19 countries and signed export contracts for playroom mats with 34 companies. Last year's export amount increased by 151% compared to 2017, before the Global Strong SME designation.

Intekplus, designated as a Global Strong SME last year, exported 2,000 semiconductor post-process package inspection devices to about 150 client companies. Last year's export amount increased by 123% compared to the previous year before the Global Strong SME designation.

Kang Gisung, Director of the Global Growth Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Last year, the number of export companies with exports exceeding 10 million USD increased by more than 400 compared to the previous year, leading the SME export market to achieve an all-time high.” He added, “We will continue to support the sustainable growth of SMEs through the excellent export company designation system.”

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