[Initial Insight] To Surpass the 2% Barrier of Women-Led Export Companies

Kim Cheol-hyun, Deputy Director of the Bio Startup and Venture Department

On the 1st of last month, at the National Assembly Members' Office Building Conference Room 1, a low sigh was heard during the 'Policy Forum on Expanding the Global Advancement of Women-Owned Businesses.' This was due to the export status of women-owned businesses mentioned in the presentation. Kim Bo-rye, Senior Researcher at the Women’s Economy Research Institute, stated that only 1.9% of women-owned businesses have export experience. This figure comes from the nationally approved statistics in the '2023 Women-Owned Business Survey.' The survey targeted approximately 240,000 companies with female representatives and a certain level of sales, and found that as of 2022, there were 4,465 export cases. Although this was an increase from 1.5% the previous year, it only rose by 0.4 percentage points in one year. Since the survey began including both corporate and individual businesses, the proportion of women-owned businesses with export experience has never exceeded 2%.

The theme of Women-Owned Business Week, held from the 1st to the 5th, was 'K-Women-Owned Businesses Opening New Opportunities on the Global Stage.' This theme reflects the awareness of the reality that women-owned businesses struggle to gain momentum in exports. Both the government and the business community unanimously agree that women-owned businesses must expand beyond the domestic market and enter the global arena. Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, said, "For the sustainable development of our country's economy, it is very important for women-owned businesses to advance overseas beyond the domestic market." Lee Jeong-han, President of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association, which hosted the Women-Owned Business Week event, also stated, "Global expansion of women-owned businesses is not a choice but an essential task in today's economic environment." The recent impact of high inflation and high interest rates has dampened consumer sentiment, demanding new breakthroughs from many companies that have so far expanded steadily within the domestic market. Moreover, to overcome the era of low growth and low birth rates, women's economic activities must expand, which is possible through the growth of women-owned businesses, and for that, global market entry by women-owned businesses is necessary. There is consensus between the public and private sectors on this point.

So, what measures are needed to expand the global advancement of women-owned businesses? When asked, nearly half (44.2%) of women-owned businesses cited a lack of overseas market information as the biggest difficulty in export activities. Next were the burden of overseas marketing costs at 30.8%, and difficulty in finding overseas buyers at 26.5%. These are common issues found in surveys of all exporting SMEs. However, looking at the process leading to these difficulties, there are problems unique to women-owned businesses.

A representative of a technology-based startup met during the coverage said, "I want to raise funds for overseas expansion, but in the market, there are still many cases where doubts arise simply because it is a women-owned business." Another female entrepreneur said, "When trying to find business partners in the global market, it took a long time to build trust without a male-centered network." In fact, surveys by the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have shown that women entrepreneurs face information gaps compared to men in procedures such as laws, policies, financing, and customs when exporting.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to enhance the global advancement capabilities of women-owned businesses by selecting fields where women have strengths, nurturing them as export strategic items, and building a platform that supports everything from providing local overseas information to legal resolution in cooperation with overseas diplomatic missions. What is important is effectiveness. By listening carefully to voices from the field, it is necessary to closely identify the obstacles women-owned businesses face in export activities and create an environment conducive to women entrepreneurs. The 'delicacy' often cited as a strength of women-owned businesses by the government should also be demanded in policy.