Chairman Kim Hak-do Announces 3 New Major Projects... "We Will Support SME Structural Innovation" (Comprehensive)

January 20 New Year's Press Conference Held at Seoul Youth Startup Academy

On the 20th, at the Jungjin Gong New Year's press conference held in Mokdong, Seoul, Chairman Kim Hak-do is speaking.

"The industrial structural transformation towards low carbon and digitalization is an unstoppable major trend, and the future of small and medium-sized venture enterprises and the national economy will depend on how we respond," said Kim Hak-do, President of the Small and Medium Business Corporation (hereinafter referred to as SBC). In a situation where industrial structural transformation is accelerating after the global pandemic, it means that supporting the structural innovation of small businesses with weak response bases is more important than ever. To this end, SBC has decided to take active steps, including promoting three new projects this year.

On the 20th, President Kim held a New Year press conference for 2022 at the Seoul Youth Startup Academy in Mok-dong, Seoul, stating, "Policy support is needed to lead and systematically back small and medium-sized venture enterprises so that they can secure future growth engines and become key players in national economic development." The new projects SBC is promoting this year include structural innovation support projects, carbon-neutral ecosystem creation, and accounts receivable factoring.

◆Structural Innovation Support Project=The Structural Innovation Support Project provides comprehensive support for business transformation into new industries, digital transformation to strengthen digital capabilities, and labor transition in industries facing stranded asset risks. To this end, it plans to provide structural innovation response level diagnosis and expert consulting to establish a 'Structural Innovation Roadmap.' It will support 800 companies for structural innovation response level diagnosis and 1,100 companies for business, digital, and labor transition consulting, with no separate burden on companies.

SBC explained that based on the plans derived from diagnosis and consulting, it will guide customized policies such as business transformation funds, smart manufacturing site funds, and labor transition support funds, and link follow-up projects. In particular, the budget for business transformation funds has been significantly expanded from 100 billion KRW last year to 250 billion KRW this year. Also, to promote systematic project implementation, 10 centers with high regional demand among the existing 33 business transformation support centers will be reorganized and operated as Structural Innovation Support Centers. Starting with the opening of the first center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province in February, the plan is to complete the opening of Structural Innovation Support Centers in 10 regions and actively provide on-site tailored support.

◆Carbon-Neutral Ecosystem Creation=To create a carbon-neutral ecosystem, a 'carbon-neutral level diagnosis' will be conducted for 600 small and medium-sized venture enterprises. It will analyze energy usage status by individual processes and equipment and provide consulting to help establish process innovation improvement strategies. Based on this, various policy measures such as subsidies, loans, and incentives will be linked to support the carbon-neutral transition at an accelerated pace.

A budget of 5.45 billion KRW has also been allocated to support the carbon-neutral transition. Technical and management consulting costs such as design support necessary for energy and greenhouse gas reduction will be supported up to 10 million KRW, and equipment investment costs such as purchase, installation, and operation costs for carbon reduction facilities will be supported up to 300 million KRW. The main support targets are export companies in countries considering the introduction of carbon border tax that urgently need low-carbon process transition, partner companies of large corporations declaring carbon neutrality, and companies engaged in high carbon emission industries. Additionally, the 'Net-Zero' fund to promote investment in carbon reduction facilities will be expanded from 20 billion KRW last year to 120 billion KRW this year. The carbon-neutral management innovation voucher will also be expanded to 17.2 billion KRW for support.

Efforts will also be actively made to expand the base of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) management. Through non-face-to-face ESG self-diagnosis, solutions will be provided to 15,000 companies, and educational and promotional content such as checklists, management guides, and export guidebooks will be distributed to company sites to improve ESG awareness. President Kim said, "It is true that small businesses lack awareness of ESG," adding, "The government is also concerned about confusion among small businesses. SBC is working to provide integrated and common guidelines."

◆Accounts Receivable Factoring=SBC plans to newly introduce 'accounts receivable factoring for small businesses' without recourse rights this year, with a scale of 37.5 billion KRW. This is to stably supply short-term liquidity to small businesses. Small business accounts receivable factoring is an innovative financial service where SBC purchases accounts receivable held by selling companies to support early cash conversion and claims repayment only from purchasing companies.

SBC plans to digitalize the entire process for rapid liquidity support, building a platform that allows application, evaluation, and contracting without offline on-site visits. Through this, payment to companies will be made within three days after application completion. After establishing system infrastructure and revising regulations, support will begin through a project announcement within the first quarter. President Kim explained, "Accounts receivable factoring has been promoted by the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund since last year, and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation also plans to start in the second half of this year. SBC is differentiated by applying analysis technology owned by private fintech companies and targeting small and medium venture enterprises with poor credit and poor accounts receivable payment conditions. We will also maximize convenience by digitalizing the entire process."

President Kim Hak-do said, "SBC will build a virtuous cycle corporate ecosystem through support from startup to innovative growth, re-challenge, and structural innovation, establish a foundation for innovative growth of small and medium-sized venture enterprises by resolving export logistics difficulties and labor shortages, and take the lead in creating social value through ESG management support, regional industrial innovation, and digital policy services," adding, "In this era of economic transformation, we will be a solid stepping stone for the courageous challenges of small businesses attempting to leap to the next level and help them become key players in the national economy."

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