[Exclusive] Ministry of SMEs Holding Back a Large Portion of Supplementary Budget for ‘Smart Sangjeom’... Plans Remain ‘Unclear’

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has allocated a supplementary budget more than five times the size of the original budget for this year's key project, the dissemination of smart stores for small business owners, but it has been confirmed that no concrete plan for actual utilization has yet been prepared. With a total budget of over 10 billion won allocated without a specific review process, criticism is being raised that this is a 'hasty project.'

According to data submitted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Kim Jeongjae, a member of the Future United Party, on the 28th, among the 20 pilot shopping districts nationwide selected for the 'Smart Store Technology Dissemination for Small Business Owners,' a new key project promoted this year, three shopping districts with a total of 1,630 stores have not yet submitted any business plans as of this day.

This project is a key initiative for which the Ministry of SMEs and Startups allocated a third supplementary budget of 8.4 billion won, five times more than the originally budgeted 1.65 billion won. On the 17th, the Ministry announced the plan for the third supplementary budget support project, stating that it would recruit additional smart pilot shopping districts by next month to introduce smart technology into a total of 35 small business-dense commercial areas.

The problem is that among the 20 pilot shopping districts nationwide promoted with the original budget, three districts (Sinchon in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (350 stores), Seongan-gil in Cheongju, Chungbuk (1,200 stores), and Usan Street in Bongmyeong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon (80 stores)) have not yet submitted business plans, so they have not even selected stores to introduce smart technology. The stores in the other districts that have already submitted business plans are still in discussions regarding the introduction of smart technology. The Ministry distributed brochures about 137 companies possessing smart technologies such as kiosks, menu boards, mirrors, and smart order systems to each store, but it has not yet been decided which company's technology each store will adopt.

Kim pointed out that it will take considerable time for each store to select a company. The technologies vary widely in implementation costs, and there are as many as 41 companies possessing smart order technology, which is expected to be the most widely adopted.

According to the third supplementary budget execution manual posted by the Ministry on the 6th, the Ministry stated, "All procedures for this project will be completed within this year, with settlement and reporting in December." However, at the current pace, it is difficult to keep this promise, and there is a high possibility of it being rushed.

The National Assembly Budget Office had already raised concerns about the excessive supplementary budget even before the supplementary budget was allocated, questioning whether it was appropriate to increase the budget by more than five times for a new project this year when the performance in terms of management improvement and sales increase or decrease due to the dissemination of smart technology has not yet been verified.

In response, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, "The project announcement period was extended due to the COVID-19 situation, and there were difficulties in collecting opinions from affiliated small business owners in shopping districts due to the 'nationwide social distancing,' which caused some setbacks in the project implementation plan."

Kim said, "It is doubtful whether this project, which is already struggling with the execution of the original budget, can be completed within the year," and added, "The Ministry must thoroughly review and meticulously redesign the Smart Store Technology Dissemination project for small business owners, which has been promoted as a key project, to prevent it from becoming merely a minister's achievement project."