Gangwon-do Business Meeting Held to Establish SME Export Policy Direction

Listening to Export SMEs' Challenges in Gangwon-do's Key Industries: Bio and Healthcare Sectors

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (Minister Lee Young) announced on the 23rd that it held a meeting with export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Gangwon region at the Medical Device Comprehensive Support Center in Wonju, Gangwon Province. This meeting was organized to identify the export difficulties faced by SMEs in the bio and healthcare sectors, which are the main industries of Gangwon Province, and to use this information to establish future export support policy directions for SMEs.

The meeting was attended by the Korea Federation of SMEs, Gangwon Technopark, the Korea Medical Device Industry Cooperative, and seven export SMEs within Gangwon Province. The participating companies took part in the medical device exhibition "MEDICA," held in D?sseldorf, Germany, from the 13th to the 16th of this month through the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' 'Export Consortium' project. They plan to discover additional achievements such as export contracts through follow-up management over the next six months.

Lee Dae-hee, Director of Small Business Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (center), is taking a commemorative photo with participants after the "Gangwon Region Digital Healthcare Exporting SMEs On-site Meeting" held on the 23rd at the Medical Device Comprehensive Support Center in Wonju, Gangwon.

At this event, proposals and policy suggestions from the SME sector regarding future SME export policy directions were discussed, including ▲expansion of support when participating in overseas exhibitions ▲strategies for pioneering emerging markets such as Europe and the Middle East ▲responses to certifications and regulations of export countries ▲and expansion of policy support for excellent export companies (Global Hidden Champions 1000+).

Lee Dae-hee, Director of SME Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, "Although exports of SMEs are expected to improve, turning positive from August, the management conditions for SMEs remain challenging considering the global economic downturn and high interest rates. We will utilize the opinions gathered through this meeting when deciding future SME export support policy directions."