The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Financial Services Commission said on the 27th that they signed a business agreement to support small business owners in management crisis and low-income and vulnerable groups at the Bankers Association building in Jung-gu, Seoul.
Policy finance institutions such as the Small Enterprise and Market Service and the Korea Federation of Credit Guarantee Foudations (KOREG), institutions supporting inclusive finance for low-income people such as the Korea INclusive Finance Agency (KINFA) and the Credit Counseling & Recovery Service (CCRS), and 17 private banks centered on the Korea Federation of Banks took part in the signing ceremony.
Small business owners often failed to recognize business deterioration in time, or even when they felt the need for support, they had difficulty checking and applying for policies scattered across institutions. The problem of using policies later than when support was actually needed was repeated.
Accordingly, the government and the financial sector plan to preselect small business owners using policy funds, guarantees, and bank loans who are at risk of management crisis and first guide them through business diagnostics, tailored support programs, and counseling procedures.
First, the Small Enterprise and Market Service, regional credit guarantee foundations, and private banks will jointly begin guidance from the 31st of this month. They plan to provide information to 100,000 to 200,000 small business owners annually on a monthly or quarterly basis.
The support system dispersed across multiple institutions will also be organically linked. The Small Enterprise and Market Service, the Korea INclusive Finance Agency (KINFA), and the Credit Counseling & Recovery Service (CCRS) will cooperate to determine during counseling whether additional support is needed and, if necessary, establish a structure that connects to other institutions' programs. A system will be built in which, at a single window, not only financial support but also debt adjustment and restart support are provided.
In particular, the scope of linkage will be expanded to employment and welfare, centered on the Integrated Support Center for Inclusive Finance. With employment programs such as the National Employment Support Program and the National Tomorrow Learning Card and welfare policies such as the basic livelihood guarantee and the Emergency Welfare Support Program operating together, the focus is on laying the groundwork for a restart beyond financial support.
The government plans to reorganize the system so that small business owners in management crisis and vulnerable groups can receive necessary support in a timely manner through this agreement. It plans to accelerate economic recovery with an integrated support system encompassing finance, employment, and welfare.
Minister Han Seong-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, "Small business owners in management crisis need timely support that does not miss the 'golden time,'" adding, "We will work with related institutions and the banking sector so that government support can be provided a beat faster."
Lee Eog-weon, chair of the Financial Services Commission, noted, "Through composite support, we shifted the service paradigm from a fragmented, administration-supplier-centered approach to one centered on policy demanders, namely low-income and vulnerable groups," and added, "We expect the consolidation network spanning finance, employment, and welfare under the composite support to inject economic vitality into small business owners and serve as a springboard for their restart."