The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 8th that, under the "Plan to promote functional reform of public institutions" announced on the 3rd, it will reorganize the functions of the public institutions under its jurisdiction.
First, Korea SMEs & Startups Distribution & Marketing Agency and the public home shopping channel will be integrated to establish the "Small and medium enterprise marketing promotion agency (tentative name)." Until now, the two institutions have run similar and overlapping functions in discovering promising small and medium enterprises and supporting commercialization, and sales support has been dispersed across online and offline as well as in-house and external channels. As a result, there were limits to organically linking everything from product discovery to commercialization and sales.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to integrate the two institutions to unify similar functions such as discovering promising products and commercialization, and to build a support system for sales, distribution, and marketing tailored to small and medium-sized corporations by linking various sales channels.
The Korea Business Incubation Association will be integrated into the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development (KISED). Through this, it will link the on-site incubation functions of 248 business incubation centers (BI) nationwide with KISED's startup support programs, and also strengthen collaboration with regional startup support hubs, including 17 Centers for Creative Economy and Innovation. It also plans to back the creation of the "Startup for All Project" ecosystem that allows people to attempt startups anywhere in the country.
The Korea SMEs & Startups Institute (KOSI) will be transferred to the Economic and Social Research Institute under the Office for Government Policy Coordination. Even after the transfer, it will carry out policy research projects for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) and strengthen comprehensive policy research by collaborating with research institutes under the Economic and Social Research Institute to link corporate ecosystem, finance, employment, and regions.
The Disabled Enterprise Business Center (DEBC) will be transferred to the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities (KEAD) under the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL). By leveraging KEAD's nationwide network, it plans to improve access to support and link services related to management activities of corporations run by persons with disabilities and employment of persons with disabilities. It will also integrate three facility management subsidiaries—Kibo Mate, KOSME Partners, and Hanyuwon Partners—to establish the "SME venture management corporation (tentative name)."
The Small and Medium Venture Business Certification Institute, the Korea Industry-Academia-Research Association, and the Women Enterprise Business Center will resolve the designation requirements for public institutions under Article 4 of the Act on the Management of Public Institutions to increase flexibility in institutional operations and strengthen collaboration with the private sector and the field.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to communicate with related ministries, public institutions, and labor unions and gather on-site opinions to supplement institution-specific functional reform plans, while closely reviewing personnel and organizational matters and pushing ahead with related legal revisions without a hitch.