The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced its policy direction for next year, focusing on fostering 10,000 youth-led local startups, supporting small business voucher programs, and establishing regional growth funds to promote growth-oriented policies. The ministry emphasized a shift from support-based policies to performance-driven initiatives that encourage sustainable growth among small businesses, startups, and small merchants.
At a briefing held on the 17th at the Government Complex Sejong, the ministry outlined its vision of ‘Restoring the Growth Ladder for SMEs, Startups, and Small Merchants’ through four major policy goals: revitalizing local livelihoods with vibrant small businesses; enabling youth-driven entrepreneurship and venture growth; strengthening the economic backbone through innovation in manufacturing SMEs; and building a fair and mutually beneficial growth ecosystem. To achieve these goals, policy resources will be concentrated in local regions through expanded regional allocations and dedicated budgets, while inter-ministerial collaboration will help create integrated regional innovation ecosystems combining business, lifestyle, and culture.
In the area of small merchant revitalization, the ministry plans to cultivate 10,000 youth-led local entrepreneurs, with 1,000 of them developed into local creators. Two Local Startup Towns will be established to facilitate networking and collaboration, and local support ratios for local startups will be raised to 90%. Additionally, 17 glo-cal commercial districts and 50 local hub commercial zones will be created by 2030 by integrating K-culture and inbound tourism. Support will also include online growth assistance for 3,500 promising small business brands in collaboration with private platforms like Musinsa and Kakao. A data and digital-based early warning system will monitor 3 million loan-holding small merchants, and a relocation support fund of 6 million KRW will be provided upon closure. A business stability voucher of 250,000 KRW will be distributed to 2.3 million small-scale merchants, and over 60% of the 3.4 trillion KRW SME policy fund will be allocated to non-metropolitan and population-declining areas with a 0.2 percentage point interest rate discount.
To boost youth entrepreneurship, the ministry will launch a ‘Everyone’s Startup Project’ through auditions, selecting 100 startup rookies annually and linking entrepreneurship with investment support. A ‘Second Chance Support Headquarters’ will be operated to enhance financial support for re-starting ventures. By 2030, 10 regional startup cities will be developed with comprehensive infrastructure, workforce, commercialization, and residential support. A regional growth fund of 3.5 trillion KRW will be established, with dedicated mother funds in 14 non-capital provinces. A national mother fund account will be created to attract private venture investments from pension funds and retirement funds. The ministry will also promote next-generation unicorn companies centered on AI and deep tech startups and expand open innovation with global big tech firms.