Minister Oh Young-joo Begins On-site Communication with Small Business and Traditional Market Sectors

First Meeting After Inauguration: Communication with Small Business Representative Associations and Groups

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Minister Oh Young-joo visited Yongmun Market in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 3rd and held an on-site meeting with representatives of associations and organizations related to small business owners and traditional markets.

This meeting was the first industry meeting arranged after Minister Oh took office. During her candidacy last month on the 7th, Minister Oh visited the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise and promised to activate the Small Business Policy Council and listen to voices from the field.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (right) is shopping at Yongsan Yongmun Market in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 3rd.

Representatives of associations and organizations representing small business owners nationwide, including the president of the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise, the president of the National Merchants Federation, and the president of the Supermarket Cooperative Federation, discussed current issues faced by small business owners and measures to enhance medium- to long-term competitiveness.

Minister Oh stated, "To promptly respond to the high interest rates and high inflation faced by small business owners in the field, we will swiftly implement the exemption from repayment of the approximately 800 billion KRW disaster relief fund advance payment approved at the Cabinet meeting, and execute the new year support budget for small business owners, increased by 1 trillion KRW from last year, including 500 billion KRW for refinancing loans and 252 billion KRW for electricity bill support for micro small business owners, with a sense of urgency."

Minister Oh continued, "We will promptly organize and hold sector-specific policy councils including small business owners, and utilize these councils as channels to listen to the voices from the field and reflect them in policies," adding, "Among the various duties of the Minister of SMEs and Startups, fostering and protecting small business owners will be given the highest priority, and we will spare no policy interest and effort."

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