'2025 Small and Medium Business Person Awards' Nominations Open for Meritorious Contributors

Applications and Submissions Accepted by the 13th of Next Month for Four Categories

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 7th that it is accepting applications for the '2025 Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Merit Awards' to discover and honor individuals who have contributed to the development and promotion of SMEs.

The government awards for SME merit are the largest awards program in Korea targeting SME owners and related individuals, and the awards ceremony is held annually during the '2025 Korea SME Week' in the third week of May at the '2025 Korea SME Convention.'

The SME Convention was first held in 1990 as the opening event of the 2nd SME Week and has since become the largest event in the SME sector. Every year, awards are given to individuals who have contributed to the growth and development of SMEs to boost the morale of SME owners.

The award categories include ▲Model SME Owner ▲Model Worker ▲Contributor to SME Development ▲Outstanding Supporting Organization. Approximately 380 awards, including orders of merit, presidential and prime ministerial citations, and Minister of SMEs and Startups citations, will be presented through a selection process.

This year, a new evaluation criterion has been added to recognize efforts in pioneering export markets in the manufacturing sector, actively identifying contributors to overseas market expansion. Additionally, scoring for efforts to improve working conditions and promote labor-management harmony will be strengthened.

Applicants wishing to be considered for the awards should prepare the required documents, including the official commendation report, and submit them by visiting the Ministry of SMEs and Startups or the Korea Federation of SMEs in person, or by mail or email, from the 8th until July 13th.

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