Ministry of SMEs and Startups Opens Recruitment for 2nd Round of Export Voucher Program Participants... Up to 100 Million KRW Support

Five Tracks Classified by Export Scale... Export Voucher Support up to 100 Million KRW
Separate Track Established and Additional Points Given for SMEs Affected by Ukraine Crisis

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 25th that it is recruiting the '2nd round of participating companies for the 2022 Export Voucher Project' to support domestic and export SMEs in expanding overseas.

The Ministry plans to recruit about 570 companies for the 2nd round of participation. The selected companies will be able to use the export voucher services starting from July this year. Export vouchers ranging from 30 million KRW to a maximum of 100 million KRW will be provided based on last year's export scale. Companies can freely use necessary overseas marketing services through accredited executing agencies.

The Export Voucher Project is an overseas expansion marketing support project that allows companies to receive export support services by selecting desired services and executing agencies (service providers) from a menu of 13 overseas marketing services such as design development, promotion, buyer discovery, and certification, through vouchers (in the form of online points) composed of government subsidies and company contributions.

All SMEs under the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises are eligible to participate (except for some industries such as gambling). Support is provided according to export growth stages classified as ▲Domestic ▲Beginner ▲Promising ▲Growth ▲Strong SMEs. In particular, the Ministry has temporarily established a separate track for SMEs severely affected by the Ukraine crisis and applies a lower self-payment rate to focus on recovery support.

Companies directly or indirectly affected by the Ukraine crisis can apply to the corresponding track according to their previous year's export performance and will receive additional points. SMEs whose direct export performance to Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus last year accounted for 30% or more of their total direct export performance can also apply to the Russia-Ukraine-Belarus affected companies track.

Detailed information on the 2nd round application can be found on the Export Voucher website. For specific inquiries, contact the Export Voucher Support Center.

Kang Gisung, Director of the Global Growth Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "Companies supported by the 2021 Export Voucher Project showed excellent results, with exports increasing by 24.5%. We will continue to actively support participating companies to succeed in expanding overseas."