Minister Oh Young-joo: "Creating a One Team for SME Exports to Provide Support"

Visit to Global Small Giant Company KOEMS on the 12th
First Step in Promoting 'Globalization of Small and Medium Enterprises'

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Minister Oh Young-joo visited Koems, a global small giant company located in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, on the 12th to listen to export difficulties.

This visit is the first visit to an export company since the minister took office. It is also the first step to hear voices from the field to promote the 'globalization of small and medium enterprises,' which Minister Oh has emphasized since her candidacy.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is explaining the main policies of the ministry at the 2024 Policy Direction Briefing held on the 11th at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Koems, which Minister Oh visited that day, is a company that exports semiconductor equipment. Although it faced difficulties due to the global supply chain restructuring that emerged since 2022 and the sharp decline in exports to China caused by the Chinese economic downturn, it challenged the U.S. market from last year and significantly increased exports. Last year's export amount is expected to increase by more than 70% compared to the previous year.

Minister Oh said, "Export risks caused by rapidly changing international situations and global economic fluctuations are issues that must always be kept in mind," adding, "For small and medium enterprises to establish themselves as solid export companies, it is important to diversify export countries and build resilience to respond to changes in the external environment."

Minister Oh continued, "Koems is an excellent case that overcame the export crisis through export diversification and new market development," emphasizing, "To increase such cases, we will actively support small and medium enterprises' entry into new markets and export diversification by creating a small and medium enterprise export one-team involving overseas diplomatic missions, local public institutions, and companies in the future."

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