[Second Half Economic Policy] Supporting Small Business Owners' Operations and Recovery... Financial Support 3-Pack, Expanded Electricity Fee Assistance, etc.

Government Discusses 'Comprehensive Measures for Small Business Owners and Self-Employed'
Focus on Scale-Up to Grow into Small Enterprises

The government will focus on promoting a financial support package of three types, expanding support for delivery fees, rent, and electricity charges, and scaling up to small enterprises to help small business owners and self-employed individuals with their operations and recovery.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the 'Second Half Economic Policy Direction and Dynamic Economy Roadmap Announcement' event held at the Blue House Guesthouse in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 3rd.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol discussed the "Comprehensive Measures for Small Business Owners and the Self-Employed," which includes these contents, at the announcement event of the "2024 Second Half Economic Policy Direction and Dynamic Economy Roadmap" held at the Blue House State Guest House on the 3rd.

First, a financial support package of three types was introduced to alleviate the debt concerns of small business owners. Starting next month, the scope of policy fund repayment extensions for small business owners facing management difficulties will be significantly expanded, and the extension period will be increased to up to five years. Previously, support was limited to those with more than three years in business and loan balances exceeding 30 million KRW, but these criteria for business duration and loan balance will be abolished.

This month, a conversion guarantee worth 5 trillion KRW will be newly established to allow small business owners using guaranteed loans from regional credit guarantee foundations to extend their repayment period up to five years. In addition, the requirements for a program that converts high-interest loans (7% or higher) from banks and non-bank sectors into low-interest loans from the Small Enterprise and Market Service (4.5% fixed interest rate, 10-year installment repayment, up to 50 million KRW) will be significantly relaxed next month.

Support to ease the burden of fixed costs such as delivery fees, rent, and electricity charges will also be expanded. A consultative body composed of stakeholders such as delivery platform operators and the food service industry will be launched this month to promptly prepare win-win cooperation measures within the year, and delivery fee support for small-scale restaurants and other small business owners will be promoted starting next year. The "Good Landlord Tax Credit," which applies to landlords who reduce rent for small business tenants, will be extended until the end of next year. The target for electricity fee support (200,000 KRW) for small business owners will be expanded from an annual sales threshold of 30 million KRW to 60 million KRW starting this month, enabling up to 500,000 additional people to receive support.

Focus will also be placed on scaling up small business owners into small enterprises. Through the dissemination of Software as a Service (SaaS) and support for entry into online sales channels, the smart and digital transformation of small business owners will be promoted. A new "Milestone Support Program" will be created to provide up to 700 million KRW in policy funds by linking the Small Enterprise and Market Service (up to 200 million KRW) and the Small and Medium Business Corporation (up to 500 million KRW) when promising small business owners grow into small enterprises. Efforts will also be made to expand sales channels such as entry into overseas shopping malls so that small business owners can gain competitiveness in overseas markets.

Debts of small business owners facing difficult management situations will be adjusted, and recovery through reemployment and re-entrepreneurship will be actively supported. The "New Start Fund" will be significantly increased from the existing 30 trillion KRW to 40 trillion KRW plus alpha. In addition, the "New Start Hope Project" will be launched to support employment and re-entrepreneurship of small business owners in connection with the National Employment Support System and the Hope Return Package. In particular, a "Small Business Owner Specialized Employment Support Program" will operate to provide training participation allowances ranging from 500,000 to 1.1 million KRW per month for up to six months, and employment promotion incentives of 300,000 to 600,000 KRW per month for one year per person will be paid to employers who hire closed small business owners. Support for re-entrepreneurship commercialization will be provided up to 20 million KRW focusing on growth industries, and the scale of support for store demolition costs will also be expanded to 4 million KRW.

The government plans to swiftly operate a one-stop platform so that small business owners can receive guidance and use these measures all at once. Starting this month, policy information for small business owners will be integrated and guided mainly through 77 Small Business Support Centers nationwide, and services will be provided through the Small and Medium Enterprise Integrated Call Center (1357) starting next month. From January next year, a dedicated channel for small business owners will be newly established within the Small and Medium Enterprise Integrated Call Center, and a comprehensive support system for small business owners will be fully operated.