January 20 New Year Press Conference at Seoul Youth Startup Academy
Kim Hak-do, Chairman of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Small and Medium Business Corporation (hereinafter referred to as SBC) will promote three major new projects this year: the structural innovation support project, the carbon-neutral ecosystem creation, and accounts receivable factoring.
On the 20th, Kim Hak-do, SBC Chairman, held a New Year's press conference for 2022 at the Seoul Youth Startup Academy in Mok-dong, Seoul, stating, "Policy support that leads from the front and systematically backs up is necessary so that small and medium ventures can secure future growth engines and become the main players in national economic development."
The structural innovation support project provides comprehensive support for business transformation into new industries, digital transformation to strengthen digital capabilities, and labor transition in industries facing stranded asset risks. To this end, SBC plans to provide structural innovation response level diagnosis and expert consulting to help establish a 'structural innovation roadmap.' It will support 800 companies with structural innovation response level diagnosis and 1,100 companies with business, digital·and labor transition consulting, with no separate corporate burden.
SBC explained that based on the plans derived from diagnosis and consulting, it will guide customized policies such as business transformation funds, smart manufacturing site funds, and labor transition support funds, and link follow-up projects. In particular, the budget for business transformation funds has been significantly expanded from 100 billion KRW last year to 250 billion KRW this year. Additionally, to promote systematic project implementation, 10 of the existing 33 business transformation support centers with high regional demand will be reorganized and operated as structural innovation support centers. Starting with the opening of the first center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province in February, SBC plans to complete the opening of structural innovation support centers in 10 regions and actively provide on-site tailored support.
To create a carbon-neutral ecosystem, SBC will conduct a 'carbon-neutral level diagnosis' for 600 small and medium ventures. It will analyze energy usage status by individual processes and equipment and provide consulting to help establish process innovation improvement strategies. Based on this, various policy tools such as subsidies, loans, and incentives will be linked to support the carbon-neutral transition at an accelerated pace.
A budget of 5.45 billion KRW has also been allocated to support the carbon-neutral transition. Technical and management consulting costs such as design support necessary for energy and greenhouse gas reduction will be supported up to 10 million KRW, and equipment investment costs including purchase, installation, and operation costs for carbon reduction equipment will be supported up to 300 million KRW. The main support targets are export companies in countries considering the introduction of carbon border tax that urgently need low-carbon process transition, large companies' partners declaring carbon neutrality, and companies operating in high carbon emission industries. Furthermore, the 'Net-Zero' fund to promote carbon reduction facility investment will be expanded from 20 billion KRW last year to 120 billion KRW this year. The carbon-neutral management innovation voucher will also be expanded to 17.2 billion KRW. SBC will actively work to expand the base of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. Through non-face-to-face ESG self-diagnosis, solutions will be provided to 15,000 companies, and educational and promotional content such as checklists, management guides, and export guidebooks will be distributed to corporate sites to improve ESG awareness.
This year, SBC will newly introduce 'SME Accounts Receivable Factoring' without recourse rights, with a scale of 37.5 billion KRW. This is to stably supply short-term liquidity to small and medium enterprises. SME accounts receivable factoring is an innovative financial service where SBC purchases accounts receivable held by selling companies to support early cash conversion and claims repayment only from purchasing companies.
To provide rapid liquidity support, SBC plans to digitalize the entire process and build a platform that allows application, evaluation, and contracting without offline site visits. Through this, payment to companies will be made within three days after application completion. After building system infrastructure and revising regulations, support will begin through a project announcement within the first quarter.
Chairman Kim Hak-do said, "SBC will establish a virtuous cycle corporate ecosystem through support from startup to innovative growth, re-challenge, and structural innovation, lay the foundation for innovative growth of small and medium ventures by resolving export logistics difficulties and labor shortages, and take the lead in creating social value through ESG management support, regional industrial innovation, and digital policy services." He added, "In this era of economic transformation, we will be a reliable stepping stone for the courageous challenges of small businesses attempting to leap to the next level and help them become the main players of the national economy."
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