Ministry of SMEs and Startups Recruiting Companies for 2025 Overseas Certification Acquisition Support Program

Applications Open Until August 29

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on July 31 that it is recruiting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in the "2025 Second Overseas Certification Acquisition Support Program."

The Overseas Certification Acquisition Support Program is a project that provides conditional post-support for a portion of the costs incurred by SMEs for certification, testing, and consulting in order to obtain regulatory certifications required by export destination countries during the process of entering overseas markets.

The certifications eligible for support include 546 types, such as the EU's CE (European Conformity), the United States' NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, including UL certification), and China's NMPA (National Medical Products Administration approval). Selected companies will receive support for 50% to 70% of the total costs, depending on their previous year's sales, up to a maximum of 100 million won.

This recruitment is the third round this year, following those held in February and May (supplementary budget project), and plans to select and support approximately 200 companies. Each company may apply for up to four cases per year; however, if the total annual application amount is less than 35 million won (small-scale certification), there is no limit on the number of applications. The application period runs until August 29, and further details can be found on the official website of the Overseas Certification Acquisition Support Center.

Lee Soonbae, Director General of Global Growth Policy, stated, "We expect that this program will help reduce the global expansion burden on SMEs, which has been exacerbated by the United States' tariff policies, and will also significantly contribute to diversifying export destinations. In addition to certification acquisition, we will continue to expand relevant policies to help our SMEs respond swiftly to various types of export regulations they may face during the process of expanding their presence in the global economic territory."