"Turning Crisis into Opportunity"... Busan City Launches Full-Scale Crisis Response System for SME-Dense Areas

Detection of On-Site Crisis Signals
Policy Design and Integrated Response

Busan City is officially launching a system to respond to crises faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By conducting interviews and surveys, the city aims to detect early signs of crisis and provide tailored support through a process that seeks policy solutions directly in the field.

Busan City (Mayor Park Hyungjoon) and Busan Technopark (President Kim Hyunggyun) announced on the 10th that they held an 'Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry FGI (Focus Group Interview)' council at Centum Green Tower in Haeundae-gu, a district densely populated with SMEs, at 3 p.m. on the 9th.

The 'Establishment of Crisis Response System for SME-Dense Areas' project targets areas with high concentrations of SMEs, such as industrial complexes, knowledge industry centers, and venture business promotion districts. The project aims to provide customized support to companies by detecting early signs of crisis through ▲data-driven economic trend monitoring, ▲online status surveys, ▲in-depth expert investigations, and ▲operation of FGI councils.

The project is jointly organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Busan City, with Busan Technopark executing the project.

As of the end of 2024, there are a total of 87 SME-dense areas in Busan. Through continuous monitoring, stand-up customized programs (technology support, commercialization support) will be provided to companies in areas classified as caution or critical stages.

Additionally, depending on corporate needs, ▲the city will actively support various policy projects such as SME development funds (up to 1.5 billion KRW), operating funds (up to 800 million KRW), support for participation in exhibitions and fairs, and support for technology data rental costs, while ▲Busan Technopark will link and utilize various support programs (research and development, industry-academia cooperation, human resource development, etc.).

2025 Small and Medium Enterprise Cluster Area Crisis Sign Monitoring and Stage Determination Procedure.

As part of this project, the recent meeting brought together three SMEs from the ICT industry concentrated in the Haeundae Centum District and relevant experts for an in-depth discussion to listen to industry issues and difficulties and to seek practical policy linkage solutions.

About 15 experts and stakeholders attended, including representatives from Busan City, Busan Technopark, Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency, Busan Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, and SME leaders in the ICT sector.

Participants engaged in in-depth discussions on the main difficulties experienced by companies and, through expert interviews, qualitatively assessed corporate needs in technology, human resources, and policy, ultimately deriving practical growth strategies for businesses.

Kim Bongcheol, Director of the Digital Economy Bureau of Busan City, stated, "We will closely examine crisis signals from the field that are difficult to identify through quantitative figures alone and strengthen an effective crisis response system that leads to policy design and implementation," adding, "We will actively support the enhancement of local SMEs' competitiveness through organic cooperation between the government and local governments."

The FGI consortium meeting is in progress.

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