Gwangju-Jeonnam Small and Medium Business Administration 'Ukraine Situation' Export Agency Current Issues Meeting

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Gwangju-Jeonnam Regional Small and Medium Venture Business Administration held a current issue meeting on the 30th with 13 export-related organizations including local governments, the Small and Medium Business Corporation, and the Korea International Trade Association to respond to the Ukraine crisis.

This meeting was organized to assess the damage situation of local small and medium enterprises caused by the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine, and to review support measures for companies facing difficulties due to soaring raw material prices, export controls on Russia, and financial sanctions.

With recent sharp rises in oil prices and exchange rates, it is expected that if the war prolongs, the negative impact on trade, finance, energy, and raw material markets will increase the damage to local small and medium enterprises.

To respond to this, participating organizations shared various difficulties faced by local SMEs such as delayed payment settlements, export logistics delays, and disruptions in new contracts, and discussed ways to establish an effective on-site response system to resolve these issues promptly.

Among the discussed matters, damage situations and requests received by each organization will be quickly shared so that institutions with effective means in exports, finance, and logistics can provide support efficiently, while cooperative projects with ministries will be linked to a government-wide task force for resolution.

For export companies experiencing liquidity difficulties, the Small and Medium Business Corporation will provide emergency management stabilization funds up to 1 billion KRW, and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation will support new guarantees up to 300 million KRW per company, while extending the maturity of existing guarantees by one year.

To support export logistics, the Small and Medium Business Administration will compensate for return logistics costs and demurrage fees, and KOTRA will support cargo storage and transportation through joint logistics centers.

Additionally, Gwangju Metropolitan City, Jeollanam-do, Gwangju Main Customs, Korea International Trade Association, Export-Import Bank of Korea, and Korea Trade Insurance Corporation will actively support resolving difficulties faced by local export companies.

Going forward, centered on the ‘Small and Medium Enterprise Export Support Council,’ the government will continuously monitor domestic and international trends and hold meetings as needed when issues arise, establishing an organic cooperation system among related organizations to prepare effective short- and long-term response measures.

Jang Daegyo, head of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Regional Small and Medium Business Administration, said, “As uncertainty due to the Ukraine crisis expands and the situation remains tense, we will closely cooperate with related organizations to minimize damage to local export companies, keeping all possibilities in mind.”

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