Support and Development of SMEs, Full Shift to 'Private Sector-Led' Approach

The 3rd Small and Medium Business Policy Council Meeting Held

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is delivering a greeting at the 3rd Small Business Policy Council held on the 28th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Policies for supporting and fostering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be fully shifted to private sector-led initiatives. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young) announced on the 28th that it held the '3rd SME Policy Deliberation Committee of 2022' at the Government Seoul Office to discuss these matters.

This meeting was organized to seek concrete and effective SME policy measures that can realize the new government's core economic policy direction of a "dynamic economy led by the private sector and supported by the government." Minister Lee Young stated, "It is necessary to reorganize the industrial ecosystem so that SMEs can establish themselves as the main drivers of our economic growth, and at this important time, it is crucial for the public and private sectors to unite, concentrate their capabilities, and push policies forward with speed." Including the agenda discussed on this day, specific SME support and fostering measures related to 'private sector-led innovative growth' will be finalized and announced after collecting opinions from experts and businesspeople on-site and coordinating with related ministries.

The government plans to undertake a comprehensive restructuring of business structures and methods so that SME support does not hinder growth but more effectively contributes to increases in sales and employment, in order to realize dynamic innovative growth led by the private sector. At the deliberation committee meeting, matters necessary for establishing a private sector-led SME support system, such as concentrated policy resource support for promising innovative companies and redistribution of policy resources based on data and performance, were discussed, and it was decided to prepare specific measures based on the results of future discussions.

The government is reviewing efficiency measures such as restructuring SME R&D support methods and reducing the burden on companies applying, aiming to expand private sector-led SME research and development (R&D). In addition, the direction of SME support project evaluations will shift from focusing on 'survival and maintenance' to 'innovative growth and performance,' and the scope of evaluation targets will be expanded from projects over 5 billion KRW to all projects. To secure an advantage in the global new market competition represented by the 4th Industrial Revolution and accelerated digital transformation, the discovery and fostering of 1,000 'super-gap startups' will also be promoted.