Seoul City Provides Customized Support for Green SMEs from Startup to Growth... New 20 Billion KRW Fund Established

Operation of 'Green New Technology Demonstration Research Center' to Support New Technology Development... 1.6 Billion KRW Support and Testbed Provision
Promotion of Green Industry Funding through New Startup Fund Creation... Support for Corporate ESG Standard Evaluation Starting This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 3rd, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will provide full-cycle customized support ranging from "startup support, capacity building, to corporate promotion" to alleviate the difficulties faced by green small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and revitalize Seoul-type green industries.

According to Seoul, there are currently 11,288 SMEs operating in the city's seven major green industry sectors, with estimated sales of about 34.2 trillion KRW and approximately 185,000 related workers.

First, Seoul will promote a demonstration project for innovative greenhouse gas reduction technologies. Support will focus on issues that companies need, such as budgets and locations required for demonstration. In addition, innovative technologies and companies in the greenhouse gas reduction field will be provided with demonstration certificates and other documents to help them grow even after the demonstration project.

This month, a public contest for the greenhouse gas reduction innovative technology demonstration project will be conducted through the Seoul Technology Research Institute's New Technology Reception Office. The plan is to support Seoul-based companies, universities, and public research institutions by dividing support into budget-supported and non-budget-supported types across five fields where greenhouse gas reduction technologies are applied (buildings, transportation, energy, resource circulation, forests).

Furthermore, by investing 2 billion KRW, a new Green Enterprise Startup Fund (No. 5) worth 20 billion KRW will be established to support the growth of green sector ventures and SMEs. The city plans to recruit agencies with extensive fund management experience and select excellent professional fund managers in the first half of the year to create a long-term investment fund with a duration of over eight years that invests in SMEs and venture companies in the green industry sector.

Additionally, from March, the Seoul Green Industry Support Center will actively promote support projects that provide in-depth consulting in technology and management fields, corporate evaluation support to strengthen capabilities, and practical assistance to green SMEs such as increasing sales and attracting investment. Especially this year, support for "ESG standard evaluation," the hottest topic in global markets and management, and "technology and credit evaluation," which can assess corporate capabilities, will be significantly expanded to help green SMEs build self-sustainability. To enhance sustainable corporate images and diagnose and improve corporate development potential, the city will assist in securing higher ESG ratings and provide credit and technology evaluations that can be used in public institution project bids.

The "Green Tech Shop" will expand its operations to provide prototype production and related education for product idea realization, as well as marketing support including promotional opportunities targeting domestic and international demand markets. Also, practical training in 3D modeling and printing will be conducted from May to November for green SMEs preparing for startup and product mass production. Following this,

the "Green Product Online Exhibition," which played a significant role in promoting green SMEs and opening sales channels even amid the COVID-19 situation, will be held once in the first half and twice in the second half of this year.

Meanwhile, Seoul will continue to promote support projects for the upcycling industry. Through the Seoul Upcycling Plaza, various projects will be carried out to nurture upcycling companies, including material supply, consulting and space provision for product development, operation of online and offline shopping malls for product sales channel development, and customized consulting.

Yoo Yeon-sik, head of the Seoul Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, "As Seoul's green SMEs face difficulties in attracting investment and opening sales channels due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, we hope they gain new vitality through various green industry support measures promoted by the city." He added, "We will continue to pursue diverse customized support measures from startup to growth to strengthen and expand the green industry ecosystem."

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