Sales of Companies Supported by the Regional Industry Growth Project of Jungjingong Increase by 18%

Accelerating Project Expansion and Advancement This Year... Intensifying Efforts to Resolve Imbalanced Growth Centered on the Seoul Metropolitan Area

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Sales of companies supported by the Small and Medium Business Corporation's 'Regional Industry Growth Project' increased by approximately 18% compared to the previous year. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry) and the Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kim Hak-do, hereinafter referred to as SBC) announced the results of the Regional Industry Growth Project performance survey conducted in collaboration with regional innovation-related organizations on the 1st.

Since 2021, SBC has been promoting the Regional Industry Growth Project in cooperation with local Small and Medium Business Administration offices, local governments, and regional related organizations to achieve balanced regional development and region-led innovative growth. The program forms a consultative body of support institutions by region to build a pool of participating companies by key regional industries and provides linked support for policy projects such as policy funds, exports, and research and development (R&D). Last year, 17 projects nationwide, 28 industrial sectors, and a pool of 1,449 participating companies were established, providing customized linkage support through 2,840 cases for 986 companies with regional innovation institutions.

A survey of 506 SMEs participating in the 2021 Regional Industry Growth Project showed that 90.7% responded that policy-linked support had a significant impact on overall management improvements such as sales and employment. Additionally, 97.8% expressed their intention to participate in the project again. In fact, the average sales of participating companies increased by 17.8% compared to the previous year, and average export volume increased by 13.2%. Employment increased by 6.9%, demonstrating high management performance despite the challenging business environment caused by COVID-19.

Reflecting the results of this performance survey, SBC plans to expand the number of projects nationwide to 39 this year and increase the pool of participating companies to 2,096. Furthermore, the project will be enhanced by strengthening support systems in areas where participant satisfaction was relatively low last year, such as ESG (environment, social, governance) management, business transformation, and overseas market entry support.

Chairman Kim Hak-do stated, "Securing future growth engines for regional SMEs is essential for balanced regional development," adding, "Through the Regional Industry Growth Project based on cooperation with related organizations, we will focus SBC's capabilities on supporting the innovative growth of highly potential SMEs and startups and contribute to resolving the unbalanced growth centered on the metropolitan area."

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