KOSME Finalizes SME Promotion Fund at 11.5129 Trillion Won for This Year

Productive Finance, Global Advancement, and AI Transformation
Supporting 'Real Growth'

The Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) announced on January 4 that it has finalized the scale of the SME and Startup Promotion Fund for this year at 11.5129 trillion won and will implement comprehensive growth support to drive productivity innovation and growth acceleration for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups. Through the 2026 budget, KOSME plans to focus on three key areas to drive the 'real growth' of SMEs and startups: promoting corporate growth through productive policy finance, supporting global advancement through enhanced export support, and establishing future growth foundations centered on regions, artificial intelligence (AI), and talent.

Jungjinkong Headquarters, Jinju City, Gyeongsangnam-do

First, the total scale of policy funds for this year is set at 4.4313 trillion won. The plan is to provide support through 4.0643 trillion won in direct loans and 367 billion won in interest subsidies (based on supply standards). In particular, policy funds will be concentrated in areas with high economic ripple effects, such as innovation-driven growth, facility investment promotion, digitalization of manufacturing sites, and overseas corporate expansion. In addition, KOSME will attract private capital by operating leading-edge financial programs that combine investment elements and collaborating with commercial banks. Promising mid-sized companies will receive large-scale funding through the P-CBO (Primary Collateralized Bond Obligation) method to help them grow into larger enterprises. To support companies pursuing AI transformation (AX) or utilizing and introducing AI and related fields, a new 'AX Sprint Preferential Track' worth 140 billion won will be established to provide preferential support.

The export voucher program, which provides support services necessary for exports in the form of vouchers, will also be expanded. In particular, considering the high external environmental uncertainties, the program will be revised to allow for the constant use of customs response services, and the maximum limit will be increased by up to 50 million won. The e-commerce export market entry program supporting online exports will be expanded, and a stable export logistics foundation will be established by building new logistics centers exclusively for SMEs and strengthening support for logistics costs.

The 'Region-Led AI Transformation' project will further promote the adoption of AI by regional SMEs and startups, and the 'Jump-Up Program' to support the growth of promising regional mid-sized companies into larger enterprises will also be expanded. The training of AI specialists needed at SME sites will be fully implemented. KOSME will operate AI-specialized training programs using the smart factory talent training center at its training institute and will establish a new AI-specialized department within the contract department, which is an industry-academia cooperation project. In addition, the 'Ear Dream School' program, which cultivates practical AI technology talent required by innovative startups, will continue, while a new, separate advanced course, the 'Global Deep Tech Startup Academy,' will be introduced to foster young entrepreneurs.

Kang Seokjin, Chairman of KOSME, said, "This year, our focus goes beyond financial support to comprehensively back every stage of SME and startup growth," adding, "We will continue to provide company-wide support by organically linking policy, finance, and on-site support to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs and startups."