Joo Joohyun, President of KOSI: "SMEs and Venture Businesses Are the Key Drivers Injecting Vitality into Our Economy"

Korea Small Business Institute Holds 2nd KOSI Symposium
Exploring Policy Directions for SMEs and Venture Businesses
Focusing on Innovation, Globalization, and Sustainable Growth

The Korea Small Business Institute (KOSI) announced on May 15 that it held the 2nd KOSI Symposium under the theme of "Overcoming Low Growth Based on SME Dynamism." This symposium was jointly organized with the Korea Association for Entrepreneurship and the Korea Association of Small Business Policy Studies to derive meaningful implications and agendas regarding the direction of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and venture business policies for the next administration through in-depth discussions among experts.

Participants of the '2nd KOSI Symposium' held on the 15th at Lunamiele Parkview Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, are taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Jung Giyeon

In the first session, Nam Yunhyeong, Senior Research Fellow at KOSI, gave a presentation on the topic of "Environmental Changes and Sectoral Responses of SMEs." Nam emphasized that, in order to respond to various macro-environmental changes affecting SMEs and to overcome the ongoing low growth, a shift in policy direction is required for each SME sector?including finance, workforce, market access, R&D, and regional policies?with a focus on AI.

In the second session, Kang Sinhyung, Professor at Chungnam National University, delivered a presentation on "Building a Technological Innovation Ecosystem for SMEs and Venture Businesses." Professor Kang proposed several measures to enhance the technological competitiveness of SMEs and venture businesses through the activation of industry-academia-research collaboration: introducing a Korean-style STTR, expanding the concept of open innovation for SMEs and venture businesses, establishing a long-term support system tailored to each growth stage, and promoting technology innovation exits and SME and venture business M&A.

In the third session, Bae Taejun, Professor at Hanyang University, presented on the topic "Korean Venture Policy: From Supporting Venture Business Growth to Globalizing the Venture Ecosystem." Professor Bae stated, "It is clear that Korea's venture policies have been among the most unique and advanced in the world." However, he emphasized that, as the policy focus has so far been skewed toward 'nurturing' venture businesses, it is now necessary to shift toward a more macro-level, ecosystem-centered global innovation policy.

Joo Joohyun, President of KOSI, stressed, "SMEs and venture businesses are the backbone of the Korean economy and, as we enter an era of great transformation, are the key drivers injecting new vitality into our economy." He added, "Through this symposium, concrete directions have been presented for future policies, including strengthening the technological innovation capacity of SMEs and venture businesses, globalizing the venture ecosystem, and establishing a virtuous capital cycle led by startups."