Ministry of SMEs and Startups Approves Plan to Convert Four New Business Projects into Joint Ventures

Cooperation Between Large, Medium, and Small Enterprises, Joint Business Transition Among Small Business Owners
Support for Policy Funds Needed for Business Transition

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Small and Medium Business Corporation announced on the 13th that they held a Business Transition Approval Evaluation Committee meeting and approved a total of 4 joint business transition plans involving 28 companies.

The business transition system is designed to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in smoothly transitioning their businesses in response to changes in the economic environment by providing assistance in planning, financing, special provisions under commercial law, and preferential treatment in government projects. Joint business transition is a system that grants collective approval for business transitions by setting joint goals between large and small enterprises or among SMEs themselves.

The four joint business transition plans approved this time include ▲development of eco-friendly excavators ▲commercialization of unmanned autonomous special-purpose vehicles ▲commercialization of hydrogen extractors ▲commercialization of carbon dioxide capture devices.

Seven SMEs, including Geonyeong Tech, aiming to develop eco-friendly excavators, plan to collaborate with a large company (HD Hyundai Construction Equipment) to develop excavators powered by eco-friendly energy sources such as electricity and hydrogen in response to emission regulations for construction machinery. The participating SMEs will develop and manufacture each component of the eco-friendly excavators, while the large company will support compatibility verification, technical assistance, quality, and performance testing, ultimately producing and supplying the necessary parts for the eco-friendly excavators.

Ten SMEs, including Fine Special Vehicles, will form an alliance centered on special-purpose vehicle manufacturers with companies possessing autonomous driving control technology and IoT technology to develop and produce unmanned autonomous special-purpose vehicles. They are already participating in the Gwangju Regulatory Free Zone project, developing special-purpose vehicle manufacturing, autonomous driving control, and AIoT technologies to create unmanned autonomous special-purpose vehicles used in firefighting, agriculture, and other fields, and are promoting their commercialization.

Panacia, a mid-sized company specializing in eco-friendly equipment, is promoting the commercialization of hydrogen extractors together with five SMEs. SMEs that develop and supply hydrogen extractors for home and general use will transition to ship and industrial hydrogen extractors, developing and manufacturing technologies and devices according to the functions of each extraction process. Additionally, Panacia is also developing carbon dioxide capture devices in collaboration with six SMEs manufacturing ship parts.

All four approved projects involve business transitions into new industries with high growth potential, such as switching to eco-friendly energy sources like hydrogen and electricity, unmanned autonomous driving technology, and utilizing hydrogen and carbon dioxide extraction and capture technologies for carbon neutrality. Participating companies plan to increase sales or employment in these fields to about 30% of their total.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to support the 28 SMEs approved for these joint business transition plans with policy funds (loans), consulting, and R&D.

Kim Woo-jung, Director of Regional Enterprise Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, “The significance of approving this joint business transition plan lies in supporting the establishment of an industrial ecosystem in new business and eco-friendly fields through collaboration models between SMEs and large and mid-sized companies.” He added, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will actively support SMEs’ business transitions to new industries to revitalize our economy and promote scale-up.”