"Kwon Chil-seung Visits Site Every Other Day, 'Ran Desperately for Small Business Owners' (Comprehensive)"

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.

The number 182 represents how many times Kwon Chil-seung, Minister of SMEs and Startups, who took office on February 5 last year, visited the field over the course of one year. He went 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 emerged. Minister Kwon plans to continue field-centered administration with 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 and said, "We will continue field-centered policies that take full responsibility for the problems faced by SMEs."

What Minister Kwon urgently pursued after taking office was the recovery of small business owners suffering from COVID-19 and the revitalization of domestic demand. 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 said, "What I remember most is the world's first legislation of loss compensation," explaining, "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. After its promulgation, we immediately operated a public-private task force to devise an efficient implementation plan." During this process, opinions from the field were reflected through meetings with small business owners and self-employed people held at least once a week and up to nine times a month. This is why programs such as the 'advance payment program' were introduced to minimize the period from damage occurrence to compensation payment.

Policies to spread the second venture boom were also expanded. Minister Kwon introduced, "Starting this year, we designated startup-focused universities to nurture them as hubs for youth entrepreneurship and established dedicated commercialization support for first-time young entrepreneurs. We also included measures such as expanding stock option tax exemptions to attract startup talent, increasing guarantee sizes suitable for scale-up levels, and introducing Silicon Valley-style fund structures." Additionally, to strengthen the regional startup ecosystem, the first 'Tipstown' outside the metropolitan area was opened in Daejeon, and the first regional angel investment hub was designated.

Furthermore, Minister Kwon cited efforts to enhance SMEs' future response innovation capabilities and to seek practical win-win cooperation as key tasks over the past year. He explained, "For companies with stagnant growth, we expanded the scope and scale of business transition support to enable them to switch to new businesses. We established SME ESG promotion measures and SME carbon neutrality response support plans to promote low-carbon initiatives and build ESG platforms. We also expanded the national representative export brand BrandK and resolved urgent logistics crises by securing exclusive shipping spaces for SMEs and providing logistics vouchers."

Over the past year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups also discovered 10 additional caring companies through new win-win models such as win-win smart factories and win-win cooperation in materials, parts, and equipment. They encouraged voluntary win-win atmospheres by expanding large corporations' contributions to win-win cooperation funds and the use of win-win payment systems. Minister Kwon said, "To eradicate technology theft, we promulgated an amendment to the Win-Win Cooperation Act that includes easing the burden of proof on subcontractors, punitive damages, and mandatory confidentiality agreements. For the first time, we linked administrative investigations of technology infringement with the Win-Win Mediation Committee, creating the first case of technology dispute mediation."

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

Minister Kwon also mentioned the 14 trillion won supplementary budget currently under discussion by the government and the National Assembly, saying, "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 lead to broader and more substantial support."

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