Ministry of SMEs and Startups Joins Forces with 6 Major Banks to Support Small and Medium Enterprises and Small Business Owners

6 Major Commercial Bank CEOs Participate in Financial Support Committee Meeting

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the six major domestic banks met to discuss financial support for small business owners and ways to support the global expansion of SMEs and startups.

On the 11th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held the 2024 Financial Support Committee meeting at Shinhan Bank headquarters, with the participation of the heads of the six major domestic banks: Shinhan, Kookmin, Woori, Hana, NongHyup, and Industrial Bank of Korea.

Before the main Financial Support Committee meeting, a 'One-Stop Financial Support Agreement for Digitally Marginalized Small Business Owners' was held, involving the Small Enterprise and Market Service, the six major commercial banks, and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund.

This agreement includes the six commercial banks acting as agents for offline application and reception of confirmation letters for small business policy funds and regional credit guarantee certificates linked to small business policy funds in nine regions including Busan and Daegu, as well as providing guidance and consultation on Small Enterprise and Market Service policy funds (proxy loans).

With the expansion of service areas through this agreement, small business owners will be able to handle everything from proxy loan confirmation issuance to guarantee application and loan application in one visit to a single bank. Furthermore, it is expected that not only digitally marginalized small business owners such as the elderly but also those unaware of small business policy funds will be able to receive assistance from bank branches, from policy fund guidance to application submission.

At the Financial Support Committee, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups presented the progress of the three financial support measures announced on July 3 as part of the 'Comprehensive Measures for Small Business Owners and Self-Employed': expansion of eligible targets for small business refinancing loans, establishment of regional credit guarantee conversion guarantees, and expansion and reform of the Small Enterprise and Market Service repayment extension system. They also requested active interest and cooperation from the six major banks for the prompt supply of refinancing loans and conversion guarantees.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, “While it is important to create good policies and systems, it is even more important that these policies are smoothly implemented on the ground,” emphasizing, “Active cooperation from the banking sector is necessary for the smooth execution of refinancing loans and conversion guarantees,” and urged the six major banks to cooperate.

Following the Ministry’s agenda presentation, the six major banks announced their current status and plans for supporting the globalization of SMEs and startups, as well as their major financial support plans for small and medium enterprises and small business owners in the second half of the year.

First, Shinhan Bank announced that it operates a customized support program for overseas expansion companies according to their life cycle and is promoting the establishment of a public-private cooperation system including policy financial institutions and diversification of support scope to globalize SMEs and startups. It also stated that it will actively carry out autonomous bank programs such as guarantee fee support for young small business owners in line with government policies to provide livelihood financial support for vulnerable small business owners.

Woori Bank plans to discover, cooperate, and exchange startups by utilizing the recently opened Dino Lab Vietnam Center to support domestic startups’ entry into Southeast Asia. It also announced plans to strengthen support for traditional market small business owners by continuously expanding the 'Janggeumi' partnership, a financial fraud prevention and customized financial counseling support service for small business owners jointly hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Financial Supervisory Service, and by improving the financial service environment for traditional markets.

NH NongHyup Bank plans to strengthen financial support for agrifood companies and support K-Food exports by supporting smart farm technology and agricultural machinery exports for the globalization of agricultural SMEs. It will also actively support the three financial support measures for small business owners (conversion guarantees, refinancing loans) to alleviate the financial burden on SMEs and small business owners.

Minister Oh Young-joo stated, “We will closely cooperate with the six major commercial banks and policy financial institutions to ensure that support measures for SMEs and small business owners, such as the Globalization Support One-Team Council and the three financial support measures for small business owners, operate smoothly on the ground and continuously develop based on the voices from the field.”