The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will inject an additional 100 billion won into the export voucher budget to respond to logistics disruptions and expense burdens caused by the Middle East war. It also set aside a budget to expand support for small business owners and to boost youth startups.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 31st that it prepared a 1.9374 trillion won supplementary budget plan for this year centered on four key areas: minimizing damages to export small and midsize companies from the Middle East war; stabilizing the management of small business owners; promoting startups to support youth jobs; and advancing artificial intelligence (AI) transition for regional small manufacturing companies.
To respond to logistics disruptions and rising expenses stemming from the Middle East war, the export voucher budget will be expanded by 100 billion won. For corporations whose management burdens have grown due to a strong dollar and surging raw material prices, an additional 250 billion won in emergency management stabilization funds will be supplied, and 12.2 billion won more will go to export control responses and online export support. The scale of policy financing for entering new markets will also be increased by 100 billion won to induce diversification of export destinations.
Support for small business owners will also be expanded. To secure liquidity, special management stabilization funds will be increased by 320 billion won, and 100 billion won each will be provided as grants to the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC) and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) to strengthen guarantee supply. The budget for the "Hope Return Package," which supports business closures and second chances for small business owners facing management limits, was also increased by 24.6 billion won. The plan also aims to boost the self-sustainability of local commercial districts through new projects that raise the added value of local small business products and customized joint marketing for traditional markets.
Startup support will also be strengthened. A total of 155 billion won will be invested in the "Startup Project for All," which allows anyone with an idea to try starting a business, building a step-by-step support system from discovering startup talent to commercialization. For promising startups, market access and funding support will be expanded, and support for corporations making a second attempt will also be reinforced. An additional 24 billion won will be allocated to expand deep-tech startup-focused universities, and 60.3 billion won will be secured for linked support with commercialization funds to revitalize local (regional) startups.
In addition, 170 billion won will be contributed to the parent fund to create venture funds that focus on investing in early-stage startups, second-chance corporations, and regional corporations. Budgets for collaboration with large corporations and global corporations will also be expanded.
Support for AI transition to strengthen manufacturing competitiveness is also included. An additional 75 billion won will be allocated to build leading models for manufacturing AI transition based on cooperation between large and small corporations, and a new project will be pursued to train manufacturing AI professionals who can be deployed in the field.
Minister Han Seong-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, "Through the supplementary budget plan, we will actively support the stabilization of management for export corporations and small business owners struggling due to the Middle East war, and the recovery of vitality for startups that create youth jobs and regional manufacturing corporations."