SME Ombudsman "Promotion of Separate Planning Support for Women-Owned Businesses"

SME Ombudsman Holds Joint Meeting on Regulatory Improvement with Korea Women Venture Association

Jubong Park, Ombudsman (Vice Minister level).
[Photo by Small and Medium Business Ombudsman]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman has decided to promote a separate planning support project to strengthen the capabilities of women-owned enterprises.

Park Ju-bong, Small and Medium Business Ombudsman (vice ministerial level), held an on-site regulatory innovation meeting jointly with the Korea Women Venture Association at 1:30 p.m. on the 9th in the conference room on the 2nd floor of the Korea Federation of SMEs building in Yeouido, Seoul.

At the meeting, participating businesspeople requested regulatory improvements in finance and market access so that women venture companies can play a greater role in economic growth.

Company A, which manufactures elevator regenerative braking devices, expressed concerns about the increased certification costs due to additional certification required following the revision of technical standards for elevator regenerative braking devices, despite having secured market access as their products were included in the list of equipment supported by Korea Electric Power Corporation.

The Women Venture Association stated, "The women-only R&D project has been abolished, making it difficult to receive support projects," and requested, "Please restore the women-only R&D support project, increase bonus points for women-owned enterprises, and provide mentoring for project planning."

Ombudsman Park responded to the burden of certification costs related to elevators by saying, "Korea Electric Power Corporation finds it difficult to reduce certification fees or provide support, but by integrating the classification range of the certification target capacity, it will reduce certification fees by 40%." Regarding R&D support for women-owned enterprises, he explained, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has seen the application and selection rate for women-owned enterprise R&D projects exceed the overall proportion of women-owned enterprises, so it is difficult to allocate a separate budget, but from next year, a separate planning support project to strengthen the capabilities of women-owned enterprises will be operated."

In addition, participating companies requested △extension of the rapid financial support program for SMEs and △improvements in the issuance method of publisher registration confirmation certificates.

Chairperson Kim Bun-hee said, "It is meaningful to have a place to seek practical improvement measures for regulatory difficulties that hinder the growth of women venture companies," and added, "The association will continue to actively identify regulatory difficulties in the field and cooperate with the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman to strive for regulatory innovation."

Ombudsman Park promised, "We will work to further activate the start-up and growth of women venture companies," and emphasized, "In particular, we will focus on resolving regulatory difficulties where women venture companies face discrimination to create a level playing field."

Meanwhile, after the meeting, Ombudsman Park attended the opening ceremony of the 'Women Venture Week' event hosted by the association, encouraging and celebrating with women venture entrepreneurs.