SMEs Ministry Executes Supplementary Budget Based on On-site Feedback on Middle East War Impact

Second Meeting of Emergency Economic Response Task Force Held

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it held the second meeting of the 'Emergency Economic Response Task Force' together with the main office and regional offices of the Ministry, support organizations for SMEs and small business owners, and the Korea Federation of SMEs, chaired by First Vice Minister Noh Yongseok.

As the negative impact of the prolonged Middle East war spreads throughout the economy, the Ministry has elevated the previous Middle East Task Force to the 'Emergency Economic Response Task Force.' The Ministry is now monitoring, on a daily basis, the regional and sectoral impacts related to the Middle East war as well as the execution status of support programs. At this meeting, the main focus was on discussing the execution plan for the supplementary budget, based on feedback collected from on-site meetings and the reporting center.

Noh Yongseok, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, is presiding over the 'Emergency Economic Response Task Force' in Seoul on the 17th. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

First, in response to increased logistics costs in all regions due to the recent rise in the Shanghai Freight Index, the scope of logistics voucher support was expanded from only the Middle East region to all regions. In addition, to further support companies affected by the Middle East war, a special guarantee program was introduced, raising the guarantee ratio from the previous 85% up to 100% and lowering the guarantee fee by 0.4 percentage points.

In addition, for the 'Online Export Joint Logistics Support Program' and the 'Response to Overseas Export Regulations Program,' which provide air and sea transport and logistics services to online-exporting SMEs, the Ministry considered prioritizing companies with export records to the Middle East. Based on the discussions at this meeting, the Ministry will expand the range of eligible beneficiaries and simplify the selection process, preparing a supplementary budget execution plan to be announced within this month.

First Vice Minister Noh Yongseok requested that officials from the Ministry and related agencies who attended the meeting make every effort to ensure that the supplementary budget for minimizing the damage from the Middle East war can be executed quickly and without any blind spots, as SMEs and small business owners have limited capacity to buffer external shocks. He added, "The speed and effectiveness of execution will continue to be monitored through TF meetings."

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