On the 25th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held the second 'Small Business Q&A Policy Advisory Council' of 2025 at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of SMEs and Startups.
This event was organized to listen to the difficulties faced by small businesses by visiting local sites, following the first policy advisory council held in January for local chapter heads of the Small Business Association. Minister Oh Youngju, along with the small business policy director and presidents of metropolitan chapters of the Small Business Association from Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon, and Gangwon, attended the event with about 30 participants.
At the event, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups explained the main policies for small businesses in 2025. Various support measures were presented, including ▲ reducing platform service fees, delivery costs, and support for smart stores ▲ refund support for Onnuri gift certificates and hosting the Mirion Donghaeng Festival ▲ Hope Return Package and nurturing local creators.
A demonstration of the 'Small Business 365' system, which provides location-based commercial district analysis services, was also conducted. Small Business 365 is a management support platform for prospective entrepreneurs and small businesses, collecting and integrating public and private data from 64 sources to provide services such as 'big data commercial district analysis' and 'store management diagnosis.'
Afterward, Minister Oh visited the site in Suwon's Haenggung-dong where the Glocal Commercial District Project is being conducted. The Glocal Commercial District Project is a regional revitalization support initiative centered on local creators to create premium commercial districts, which was introduced by the Ministry last year. Haenggung-dong has discovered 17 local brands through this project over the past year.
Following this policy advisory council targeting the metropolitan area and Gangwon, the Ministry plans to meet with small businesses in regions such as Chungcheong-do, Gyeongsang-do, Jeolla-do, and Jeju in the future.
Minister Oh, who presided over the event, noted, 'This year, the starting point of small business policy will be the voices from the field,' and added, 'This year, I will sequentially meet with local small businesses to listen more deeply to their voices.' He emphasized, 'Through the Glocal Commercial District Project, we will support small businesses and alleyway commercial districts to transform into innovative corporations and places.'