"Customized Strategies Needed for Small Business Growth in the Digital Era"

Small Business Growth Policy Forum Held

There is a growing consensus on the need for a step-by-step, customized strategy to ensure the sustainable growth of small businesses in the digital era.

Exterior of the Korea Federation of SMEs located in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Korea Federation of SMEs

On November 17, the Korea Federation of SMEs announced that it held the “Small Business Growth Policy Forum” at its Win-Win Room in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The event was organized to discuss policy measures for the sustainable growth of small businesses in response to rapid changes in the market environment, such as online and digitalization. The forum was attended by more than 100 participants, including Choo Moon-gap, Head of the Economic Policy Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, members of the Small Business Distribution Industry Committee, as well as executives and staff from small businesses and related associations and organizations.

In the first keynote presentation, Jung Sanghee, Director of Policy Research at the Institute for Democracy, emphasized that since small businesses lack the capacity to respond to market changes, a comprehensive growth strategy is needed. This strategy should encompass scaling up, smartization, and innovation in local and lifestyle services.

In the second keynote presentation, Wi Pyungnyang, Director of the Economic and Social Research Institute, presented on legal and institutional regulations for the online digital platform ecosystem to ensure fair trade structures, as well as ways to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) for the digitalization of small businesses. He argued that overcoming the digital divide between the Seoul metropolitan area and other regions is essential.

The panel discussion was moderated by Lee Jeonghee, a professor at Chung-Ang University. Representing the small business sector, Son Seongwon, Head of Small Business Policy at the Korea Federation of SMEs; Cha Namsu, Head of Policy Development at the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprises; and Kwak Nojun, Head of the Korea Supermarket Cooperative Federation, participated in the discussion. Ji Cheolho, Advisor at the law firm Sejong, and Jeong Eunae, Research Fellow at the Korea Small Business Institute, were also in attendance.

First, Son Seongwon asserted, “Support should be provided so that micro-businesses can grow into small businesses through tailored smart factory assistance, and the effectiveness of policies should be enhanced by providing differentiated support by business type.” Cha Namsu stated, “It is necessary to classify small businesses into livelihood-oriented, stability-oriented, growth-oriented, and enterprise-oriented types and establish strategies accordingly. In addition, it is important to implement detailed digital transformation (DX) policies that take into account the characteristics of each business sector.”

Kwak Nojun commented, “Government support should be reformed into a growth engine support model that secures strategic space (time, capital, knowledge) for small businesses to innovate on their own.” Advisor Ji Cheolho emphasized, “While government control or management of large platform companies is important for the growth of small businesses, it is necessary to focus on developing industry-centered coexistence measures rather than punitive approaches.”

Research Fellow Jeong Eunae advised, “For small businesses with high growth potential, large-scale and decisive support should be concentrated, while those that have exited the market should be structurally transitioned through selective growth and connected exits, linking them back to the local ecosystem through employment and reintegration.” Choo Moon-gap, Head of the Economic Policy Division at the Korea Federation of SMEs, stated, “The difficulties faced by small businesses are intensifying due not only to the ongoing domestic demand slump, but also to structural problems caused by population decline. It is time to shift to customized growth policies for each business sector that reflect the characteristics of an increasingly online and digitalized market.”