Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.
KOTRA to invest $14 million to support SMEs
By Kwak Yeon-soo
A KOTRA logo / Korea Times file
By Kwak Yeon-soo
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said Sunday it will invest 16.8 billion won ($14 million) to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are hit by Japan's export restrictions.
The move comes after the National Assembly passed a 5.83 trillion won extra budget bill Friday, to help support the government's efforts to revamp the slowing economy and tackle Japan's economic actions.
The state-run trade promotion agency said it will spend 10.8 billion won to strengthen the export voucher business, 5 billion won to hold more overseas exhibitions and 1 billion won to dispatch additional economic delegations.
The export voucher business allows SMEs to gain help from over 5,000 export support services provided by 1,000 related agencies.
The overseas exhibition is where businesspeople can promote Korean products and consult with potential buyers at the Korean Pavilion. KOTRA plans to hold 35 additional exhibitions with the extra budget.
The dispatch of economic delegations is intended to support business consultation between SMEs and foreign companies.
“We are facing growing economic uncertainties. Korea's export fell 8.5 percent in the first half of this year and the trade dispute with Japan is escalating,” said Kwon Pyung-oh, KOTRA President and CEO. “We will do our best to restore the export vitality of SMEs with the extra budget.”