Gov't to foster 500 SMEs with export competitiveness by 2030
Containers are stacked at a port in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Yonhap
The government will work to foster 500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an annual export capacity of over $10 million by 2030 as part of efforts to promote exports of smaller firms, the industry ministry said Friday.
Last year, Korea's exports exceeded $700 billion for the first time, but the top 1 percent of export firms, or those with over $50 million in annual export volume, accounted for some 84 percent of the country's total exports.
SMEs only accounted for 8 percent of the total.
Through the project, the country will work to lessen its dependence on only a handful of conglomerates, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said.
To this end, five trade promotion agencies, including the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the Korea Trade Insurance and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, have signed a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide marketing, certification, finance and consulting support to small export firms, according to the ministry.
Under the MOU, SMEs selected as firms with export potential in the consumer goods, artificial intelligence, semiconductor, automobile and other sectors can each apply for a yearly maximum of 560 million won ($381,000) in financial support for up to three years.
"Fostering star export companies that pioneer new markets and new products is very important to overcoming polarization in exports and building an inclusive export structure for all," said Kang Gam-chan, deputy minister for trade and investment at the ministry.
"If the five specialized institutions and the government join forces as one team to nurture small export firms into major players in the global market, Korea will be able to see an era of $1 trillion in annual exports in the not too distant future."