"Let's Strengthen Strong Exporting SMEs"…First Step in Supporting R&D Costs of 500 Million Won Project

Ministry of SMEs and Startups' 'Global Strong Small Business 1000+ Project'
1038 Companies Selected... Export Voucher Program Also Launched

# 'Cheonha,' a special vehicle manufacturer specializing in ladder trucks, started as a specialized after-sales service company for special vehicles in 2000 and officially entered the ladder truck market in 2007. Since then, it has established itself as a leading company by applying the country's first wireless remote control system to ladder trucks. Now, it is actively expanding beyond the domestic market into global markets such as Japan and China.

# 'Seyang' is a company that manufactures dental equipment based on the know-how and technology accumulated since its founding in 1976. It succeeded in domestic production of the 'dental micromotor handpiece,' which had been solely dependent on imports, and exports to over 120 countries worldwide.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has taken the first step toward nurturing domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into global companies. This is the 'Global Strong SMEs 1000+ Project,' which promotes overseas expansion of SMEs. About 1,000 SMEs challenging the international stage, such as Cheonha and Seyang, have been selected as participating companies.

The Global Strong SMEs 1000+ Project is a newly introduced system this year that integrates the previously separate designation systems for Global Strong SMEs, promising export SMEs, and Export Dodream companies, which had different selection procedures, schedules, and criteria.

Participating companies are classified into four stages based on export volume: 'Promising ($100,000?$1 million) ? Growing ($1 million?$5 million) ? Strong (over $5 million) ? Strong+ (over $10 million).' Companies with high growth potential at each stage are selected to receive overseas marketing and financial benefits from about 20 export support organizations. A total of 1,719 export companies applied, recording a competition rate of 1.7:1.

Among the 1,038 companies selected for the project, export vouchers are issued without separate evaluation. In particular, companies selected at the Strong stage can receive up to 500 million KRW annually in research and development (R&D) funding through a dedicated R&D track.

Additionally, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups selected the first batch of export voucher participating companies this year. The export voucher system supports marketing services necessary for overseas expansion in voucher form, ranging from 30 million KRW to a maximum of 120 million KRW. A total of 6,026 companies challenging the global market applied for the export voucher, showing a competition rate of 2.7:1.

Selected export voucher companies will begin signing agreements from the 3rd and can use the services for 11 months until February next year. Recruitment for the second batch of participating companies is scheduled to start in May. Detailed information can be found on the export voucher website.