Hearing Held at the National Assembly on the 21st
Policy Directions Presented Including the Establishment of a Public-Private Collaboration Platform
Oh Young-joo, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated on the 21st, "It is important to stabilize the management of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), ventures, and small business owners, who are the livelihood base of the people, as soon as possible," adding, "I will strive to help SMEs, ventures, and small business owners grow as key players in our economy amid the rapidly changing global environment by applying the principle that the field is always right and utilizing the diverse experiences and knowledge accumulated in the international community."
Oh Young-joo, nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, is taking an oath at the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 21st. [Photo by Yonhap News]
Oh, during her opening remarks at the confirmation hearing for the Minister of SMEs and Startups held at the National Assembly that day, said, "It is urgent to secure national competitiveness through global market development and to expand future growth engines."
She presented the main policy directions as ▲ solving urgent issues and chronic problems such as high interest rates and regulations, ▲ building a stronger safety net for small business owners, ▲ establishing a public-private cooperation platform covering both domestic and overseas markets, ▲ advancing to a global hub nation for startups and ventures, and ▲ securing responsiveness to changes in the global business environment.
Oh explained, "I will work to devise measures to reduce the heavy burdens of high interest rates and electricity costs on small business owners, and establish a regular consultative body for small business owners to listen humbly to voices from the field," adding, "I will be a reliable advocate to find solutions for ongoing issues requested by the SME sector, such as tax reform for business succession and regulatory reform."
She continued, "We will strengthen the functions of the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid and expand employment insurance support for self-employed workers to build a more robust livelihood safety net for small business owners," adding, "We will create conditions for small business owners facing the risk of closure to smoothly wind down their businesses and make new starts through re-entrepreneurship and employment."
Oh also said, "By cooperating with 167 overseas diplomatic missions worldwide, we will integrate Korea's global infrastructure assets, including the Small and Medium Business Corporation, KOTRA, and local companies, into a single platform to create a one-team export system for SMEs," adding, "We will actively promote global innovation zones to support the global market entry of new industries and strengthen the foundation for globalization of SMEs by supporting the attraction and settlement of global talent in Korea."
She further stated, "We will promote the excellence of K-Startups to global companies and investors worldwide to open paths for investment attraction and cooperation, and push forward the creation of global startup hubs and improvement of startup visas," emphasizing, "We will expand support for deep-tech fields where our startups lead the world, such as big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and system semiconductors, while newly establishing the Startup Korea Fund and easing regulations on corporate venture capital to focus on creating a private-sector-led venture investment ecosystem."
Oh highlighted her 35 years of experience at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an advantage. She said, "I have developed a balanced perspective on the international economic order through various economic diplomacy tasks including the UN, economic security, development cooperation, and environment," adding, "I have gained understanding and experience of the global market through postings in the four major export countries for SMEs: the United States, China, Japan, and Vietnam."
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