Jungjingong Leads COVID-19 Recovery by Expanding Accessibility to Policy Funds

Policy Fund Consultation Opportunities Doubled Compared to Last Year... Introduction of Non-Face-to-Face Support Process

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kim Hak-do, hereinafter referred to as SBC) announced on the 19th that it is striving to overcome the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) crisis through efforts to expand accessibility to policy funds for small and medium enterprises by providing more opportunities for policy fund consultations and fully introducing a non-face-to-face support process.

According to the SBC trend survey conducted at the end of last year, 94.4% of small and medium enterprises were directly or indirectly affected by COVID-19 due to sluggish domestic demand and decreased overseas market demand, and 63.8% responded that the damage period would "last more than one year." It was found that "policy fund support" was the most needed to overcome the management crisis.

Accordingly, SBC plans to conduct more than 330,000 consultations annually, more than double compared to the previous year, to proactively respond to the increased demand for policy fund applications and provide consultation opportunities to more companies. As of January, pre-consultations for online applications have also doubled compared to the same period last year, with a total of 32,316 cases opened and ongoing.

Furthermore, starting this year, the support process from policy fund application to consultation and evaluation has been fully converted to non-face-to-face. This aims to alleviate the inconvenience of visiting SBC regional headquarters to receive policy fund support and contribute to preventing the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing.

For policy fund application consultations, working capital consultations are principally conducted non-face-to-face. Companies can select the desired date and time for consultation through the SBC website and make a reservation, after which SBC staff conduct consultations via wired or wireless calls. Face-to-face consultations are also possible if the company wishes.

Non-face-to-face on-site investigations have also been fully introduced at the company evaluation stage. Using video conferencing systems, video calls, and voice calls, the identity of the evaluation target and the company site are verified, and interviews for technical business feasibility evaluation are conducted. For policy fund application amounts of 100 million KRW or less, on-site investigations are principally conducted non-face-to-face, and from social distancing level 2.5, non-face-to-face on-site investigations will be further expanded.

Additionally, policy fund applications can be submitted online through the website, and necessary documents for on-site investigations are replaced by online verification using administrative information sharing networks, simplifying the evaluation process.

Earlier, SBC piloted a non-face-to-face review that omitted on-site investigations in the second half of last year, and 85.5% of participating companies expressed satisfaction. The reasons cited were convenience and ease at 52.8%, and speed at 32.5%. Furthermore, 98.4% of respondent companies indicated they wish to continue non-face-to-face consultations and evaluations for policy funds in the future.

Chairman Kim Hak-do stated, "As COVID-19 prolongs, safe and prompt policy fund support is necessary," adding, "We will expand consultation opportunities for policy funds and fully introduce a non-face-to-face support process from consultation to loan to help more companies utilize policy funds and overcome the COVID-19 crisis."