Ministry of SMEs Transforms into Policy Department... Establishes 'SME Strategy Planning Officer' Position

Gathering and Connecting Targeted Policies to Proactively Prepare for the Upcoming Future

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will establish a new position, the ‘Director of SME Strategic Planning,’ to strengthen the functions of mid- to long-term policy formulation and overall policy coordination.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is announcing the SME Leap Strategy on the morning of the 29th at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 30th, the Ministry announced that it will reorganize the existing SME Policy Officer position and introduce the Director of SME Strategic Planning, who will be solely responsible for mid- to long-term policy formulation. This move aims to proactively prepare for the rapidly changing external environment such as digitalization and carbon regulations, as well as the weakening growth ladder in the domestic business environment, and to promote digital transformation across industries and entry into new industries for the future.

The Director of Strategic Planning is part of the ongoing effort since Minister Oh Young-joo’s inauguration to establish the Ministry of SMEs and Startups as a bona fide policy ministry. The role embodies the intention to maximize outcomes by adjusting functions to unify and connect policies scattered across different targets such as SMEs, small business owners, ventures, and startups.

Under the Director of Strategic Planning, the departments of Strategic General Affairs, Strategic Analysis and Development, External Environment Response, and SME Systems have been organized.

The Strategic General Affairs Department will strengthen its functions to formulate policies targeting the entire range from small business owners to all SMEs, including globalization, digitalization, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI), and to oversee and coordinate policies across various divisions. It will serve as the department responsible for establishing, overseeing, and coordinating future strategies in response to rapidly changing business environments.

The Strategic Analysis and Development Department will support the Strategic General Affairs Department in formulating future strategies and policies by adding functions such as collecting and analyzing domestic and international policy information, discovering and developing policy agendas, and developing mid- to long-term policies to the existing policy evaluation and analysis functions.

The External Environment Response Department is tasked with quickly analyzing and responding to new changes in the domestic and international business environment, such as the Ukraine-Russia war, to secure SMEs’ response capabilities. It has newly established functions for analyzing and evaluating the effects of changes in domestic and international SME-related laws, systems, and policies, as well as analyzing and responding to changes in the global business environment, in addition to the existing corporate environment improvement functions.

The SME Systems Department will be operated as the department responsible for laws and systems related to SMEs.

Minister Oh said, “I believed that invisible barriers between divisions and bureaus must be removed to achieve results,” and added, “Going forward, the Director of SME Strategic Planning will be operated as a comprehensive policy strategy and response organization encompassing SMEs, startups, ventures, and small business owners.”