Minister Oh Young-joo "Considering Expansion of Regional Startup Support"... Youth Startup Company Meeting in Gwangju

Oh Young-joo, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, expressed her commitment to expanding support for regional startups.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups
[Photo by Yonhap News]

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On the 26th, Minister Oh held a meeting with regional youth startup companies in Gwangju and stated, “We will consider expanding the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ support for regional startups so that young talents in the regions can pioneer successful lives through entrepreneurship while leading regional development.”

She continued, “To revitalize the regional startup and venture ecosystem, we will do our best to create a regional innovation venture fund totaling 600 billion KRW (cumulative), expand the regional angel investment hubs currently operating in three locations (Chungcheong, Honam, Dongnam), and strengthen the linkage between the Ministry’s startup support projects and local governments.”

Seven youth startup companies based in Gwangju participated in the meeting. They raised issues common to local SMEs, such as difficulties in securing excellent talent, the need to expand policy financing for early-stage startups, and the strengthening of market access support for youth startups.

Minister Oh also visited Optonics, a youth job and employee welfare exemplary company located in Buk-gu, Gwangju. She toured the production facilities and company welfare facilities and held a meeting with executives and young employees. Optonics, a specialized optical lens company, employs 161 people in total, of whom 101 are young employees. CEO Lee Yong-beom explained the company’s efforts to create a favorable working environment for young talents, including long-term service awards, support for various family events, full coverage of employee education expenses, and operation of a cyber training center.

In response, Minister Oh said, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will continuously improve the working environment of SMEs by cooperating with related ministries to prioritize housing supply for long-term SME employees and support costs for workplace daycare centers in SMEs, so that young talents can work comfortably even in local areas. We will also work with SMEs nurturing regional talents to solve youth employment issues in the provinces.”

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