Export Voucher Gains Increased Interest from Companies
2024 Export Voucher Matching Fair to be Held on the 20th
Companies are flocking to participate in the government's flagship support policy for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) entering overseas markets, the 'Export Voucher Program.' This is because the program's achievements have been growing every year, and this year, the support limit has been significantly expanded following the 'Support Measures for the Globalization of Small and Medium and Venture Enterprises' announced last month. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Small and Medium Business Corporation plan to provide customized support according to the scale of exporting SMEs through this program to nurture leading export companies.
According to the Small and Medium Business Corporation on the 20th, the number of pre-matching consultations between executing agencies and participating companies at the 'Export Voucher Matching Fair' held at COEX on the same day reached 1,049, a 64% increase compared to last year. This indicates that corporate interest in the export voucher has risen significantly. The Small and Medium Business Corporation explained that more inquiries and applications than usual are coming in for the recruitment of companies participating in the second phase of the Export Voucher Program, which runs until the 4th of next month.
This program supports 14 types of overseas marketing services tailored to SMEs to help them enter overseas markets, including promotion, buyer discovery, overseas certification, and international transportation. Participating companies can freely select and use services and executing agencies provided in a menu format through vouchers composed of government subsidies and company contributions.
In the first recruitment phase in the first half of this year, 6,966 companies applied for the export voucher, and 1,899 were finally selected, showing a competition rate of 3.7 to 1. The second phase currently recruiting is characterized by doubling the voucher support limit up to 200 million KRW for ‘high-growth export companies’ that had export sales of over 1 million USD last year and an average annual export growth rate of over 20% in the past three years. This is to actively support 'export scale-up.' About 300 companies will be selected, and the chosen companies can start using the export voucher from next month.
Interest in the export voucher is concentrated because the program's results have been expanding annually. Last year, a total of 5,258 companies were supported, a 29% increase compared to the previous year. Moreover, the export amount of supported companies increased by 3.6% compared to the previous year, surpassing the export growth rate of all SMEs. Domestic companies that had no exports the previous year participated in this program, with 33.2% succeeding in their first export. It also contributed to job creation, with the number of employees in supported companies increasing by 2,637 compared to before participating in the program. The employment growth rate was 3.5%.
The Small and Medium Business Corporation is focusing on preparing support measures that provide practical help to participating companies, in addition to providing vouchers this year. At the Export Voucher Matching Fair held on the same day, about 100 executing agencies participated, allowing participating companies to confirm information that meets their service needs through on-site consultations. One-on-one mentoring, export know-how transfer, and consultations for entering global platforms were also provided. Kim Il-ho, Director of Global Growth at the Small and Medium Business Corporation, said, “The Small and Medium Business Corporation will work as one team with private export specialized institutions and executing agencies to fully support the export growth and globalization of SMEs struggling under difficult export conditions.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
