The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that from next year, it will promote growth-oriented policies centered on nurturing 10,000 youth-led local startups, providing support vouchers for small business owners, and establishing regional growth funds.
The Ministry aims to restore the ‘growth ladder’ for SMEs, startups, and small business owners through four major initiatives: revitalizing local economies, promoting youth entrepreneurship, strengthening manufacturing SMEs, and building a fair and symbiotic growth ecosystem. Policy resources will be concentrated in regions through expanded local allocations and dedicated budgets.
It plans to foster 10,000 youth-led local entrepreneurs, establish 2 local startup towns, and increase local support proportion to 90%. Collaborating with private platforms like Musinsa and Kakao, it will support the online growth of 3,500 promising small business brands. It will also implement AI-based crisis monitoring systems for small businesses and provide 250,000 KRW business stability vouchers to 2.3 million small-scale business owners. Over 60% of the 3.4 trillion KRW policy fund will be allocated to non-metropolitan and population-declining areas with preferential interest rates.
To boost youth entrepreneurship, it will operate the ‘Everyone’s Startup Project’ and strengthen financial support for re-startups. By 2030, it aims to establish a 350 billion KRW regional growth fund and create a national mother fund involving pension funds. It will also promote the development of AI and deep-tech startups and expand open innovation with global tech giants.