Choi Sang-mok: "Trade Insurance Supply of Up to 100 Trillion Won for SMEs and Mid-sized Companies"

Choi Sang-mok, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister as well as Minister of Strategy and Finance, stated on the 8th, "We will provide trade insurance worth up to 100 trillion won to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies."

Acting President Choi held the "1st Major Issue Resolution Meeting" at the Government Seoul Office in the afternoon and said, "Our country is at a critical crossroads, and amid high political uncertainty and changes in the external environment, we must find the best solutions."

The meeting focused on discussing economic diplomacy measures toward the United States in response to the inauguration of the Trump administration's second term. In particular, Acting President Choi directly chaired the export strategy meeting and decided to respond swiftly to the emergency export situation.

Following the announcement of measures to strengthen the competitiveness of the national key industry, the petrochemical industry, there was consensus to accelerate the business restructuring of oversupplied industries.

On the 19th, before the Macroeconomic and Financial Meeting held at the Bankers Hall in Myeongdong, Seoul, Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Strategy and Finance, is delivering the opening remarks. Photo by Heo Young-han

Acting President Choi also decided to directly chair the "National AI Committee Plenary Meeting" in February to enhance artificial intelligence (AI) competitiveness. He explained, "We will support SMEs struggling with high exchange rates with up to 1.5 trillion won and promote the enactment of the SME AI Diffusion Act. To stimulate the recovery of the venture investment market, we will make early contributions to the Korea Fund of Funds to quickly create venture investment resources worth 13 trillion won."

He stated that the historically largest policy finance of 248 trillion won will be swiftly executed up to 60% in the first half of the year, and plans to prepare improvement measures for the delisting system by next month. In particular, responding to concerns that simple policy finance alone may not provide tangible support to key industries, a separate plan (Vehicle) that allows investment-type support in addition to the existing loan method will be reviewed and submitted to the Ministerial Meeting on Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement within the first quarter.

Acting President Choi urged, "Each minister should carry out their duties with a sense of responsibility as the final person in charge of key tasks, including providing monthly briefings on the progress of core tasks," and added, "Please communicate sufficiently with the National Assembly and build consensus on major legislative tasks."