Prestigious Long-Standing Enterprises Now Eligible Across a Wider Range of Industries

Cabinet Approves Partial Amendment to the Act on the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on December 23 that the Cabinet had approved a partial amendment to the “Act on the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises.” The amendment expands the eligible industries for the selection of Prestigious Long-Standing Enterprises and rationally improves the requirements for maintaining business categories.

The Prestigious Long-Standing Enterprises program selects companies that have been in business in Korea for more than 45 years, based on a comprehensive evaluation of their economic and social contributions, innovation activities such as research and development (R&D), and more. Selected companies are provided with promotional plaques and receive support for promotional content such as video production. They are also given preferential benefits when applying for policy funds, export support, and other assistance programs.

Previously, the verification system for Prestigious Long-Standing Enterprises excluded certain industries such as construction, finance, and insurance from eligibility. However, as business environments have evolved, companies now operate in multiple sectors, blurring the boundaries between industries. With the expansion of new industries such as ConTech (construction), FinTech (finance), and InsurTech (insurance), there have been ongoing concerns that prohibiting entry from specific sectors is excessive.

Accordingly, the amendment allows applications from industries such as construction, finance, and insurance, except for certain entertainment and speculative sectors. This change is expected to help discover exemplary Prestigious Long-Standing Enterprises across a wider range of fields.

Currently, the system requires that the main business category remain unchanged for 45 years, and if a company operates in multiple sectors, the revenue share of additional sectors must be less than 50%. However, there have been criticisms that this does not reflect the reality of SMEs, whose revenue structures often change dynamically in response to market conditions.

To address this, the amendment relaxes the main business category requirement from the “detailed classification” level to the “broad classification” level. Even if a change occurs between broad classifications, it will be recognized as maintaining the main business category if the validity is acknowledged through procedures set by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Kim Daehee, Director General of SME Strategy Planning at the Ministry, stated, “Through this amendment, we will identify companies that have maintained trust and innovation over the long term across various industries, and further expand the participation of companies engaged in business diversification and transformation-driven management innovation.”