"Kwon Chil-seung, Visiting the Site Every Other Day, Says 'I Ran Desperately for Small Business Owners'"

182 On-Site Visits in 1 Year Since Appointment as Minister of SMEs and Startups
Most Memorable Event: World's First Legislation on Loss Compensation

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is holding a press conference commemorating the first anniversary of his inauguration on the 10th at the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Episode 182. Since his inauguration on February 5 last year, Kwon Chil-seung, Minister of SMEs and Startups, has visited the field 182 times over the course of a year. He has been going out almost every other day to reflect the voices of small business owners and SMEs in policy reforms. Minister Kwon himself said, "Although I have worked as a politician for nearly 25 years, I don't think there has ever been a time as hectic and desperate as the past year." Based on this, support was provided for the recovery of small business owners and micro-SMEs from the damages caused by COVID-19, and achievements such as record-high startup and venture investment performance and SME export performance have been realized. Minister Kwon plans to continue field-centered administration alongside SMEs, venture companies, and small business owners this year as well.

On the 10th, Minister Kwon held a press conference at the annex of the Seoul Government Complex to mark his first anniversary in office, stating, "We will continue field-centered policies that take full responsibility for the problems faced by SMEs."

One of the urgent tasks Minister Kwon pursued after taking office was the recovery of small business owners suffering from COVID-19 and the promotion of domestic demand vitality. To this end, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups expanded the scope of the Support Fund Plus and Hope Recovery Fund to include small enterprises and designed the targets, methods, and delivery systems to ensure no blind spots in support. Minister Kwon explained, "What I remember most is the world's first legislation of loss compensation," adding, "We persistently persuaded the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the National Assembly, and the amendment to the Small Business Support Act, which included the legal basis for loss compensation, was passed at lightning speed within six months. Immediately after its promulgation, we operated a public-private task force to devise an efficient implementation plan." During this process, opinions from the field were reflected through weekly or up to nine times monthly meetings with small business owners and self-employed individuals. This is why programs such as the 'advance payment program' were introduced to minimize the period from damage occurrence to compensation payment.

Policies to expand the second venture boom were also enhanced. Minister Kwon introduced, "Starting this year, we designated startup-centered universities to nurture youth entrepreneurship hubs and established dedicated commercialization support for first-time young entrepreneurs," adding, "We also included measures such as expanding stock option tax exemptions to attract startup talent, increasing guarantee scales suitable for scale-up levels, and introducing Silicon Valley-style fund structures." In addition, Minister Kwon cited efforts over the past year to enhance SMEs' future-oriented innovation capabilities and to seek effective win-win cooperation as key focus areas.

Visible achievements are also emerging. Last year, venture investment reached a record high of 7.7 trillion won. Youth entrepreneurship and technology startups are expected to surpass the previous year's record-breaking performance and set new highs. SME export volume also achieved a record high. Minister Kwon said, "The number of companies with exports exceeding 10 million dollars is 2,294, which is more than a 20% increase compared to last year," emphasizing, "These achievements are not due to government power but are the result of the sweat and effort of small business owners and SME entrepreneurs."

Minister Kwon referred to the 14 trillion won supplementary budget currently under discussion by the government and the National Assembly, stating, "Loss compensation and quarantine support funds are quarantine costs borne by the state and society to maintain the healthy lives of the people," and added, "Considering the difficult situation of small business owners, I hope the discussions will proceed well so that broader and more substantial support can be provided."

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