SMEs and Startups Minister Lee So-young: "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups must work like a startup... We will boldly remove regulations"

[Financial News] Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young said, "We will boldly remove regulations that stand in the way of challenges and systematically manage the excessive business burdens faced by small business owners."
 At her inauguration ceremony at Government Complex Sejong on the 28th, Minister Lee said, "To achieve real growth in South Korea, we must remove unreasonable regulations that stifle companies' growth," and pledged, "Even if it means clashing with established industries or practices, I will stand on the side of those in the field and innovation and speak out as a 'regulatory reform minister.'"
 She continued, "I will revive the capital market's role as a source of risk capital," adding, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will also make its voice heard in capital-market policy to create an ecosystem where anyone with technology and ideas can attract investment, grow, and be properly evaluated by the market."
 Minister Lee said, "I hope the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will work like a startup," and asked employees to freely express their opinions.
 She said, "The person who knows a policy most deeply is neither the minister nor the bureau and division heads, but the person in charge who has spent a long time handling and thinking about that work," and urged them, "I want to debate directly regardless of rank, so please say, 'Minister, I don't think that's right.'"
 She also stressed, "The gaps between large and small companies, the Seoul metropolitan area and local regions, and major platforms and neighborhood businesses are widening," adding, "Bridging polarization is precisely the work of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups."
 She also outlined a plan to make artificial intelligence (AI) transformation (AX) a new growth opportunity for SMEs, venture companies and startups. Minister Lee said, "If only those with technology and capital move ahead, the gap will widen further," adding, "If our venture companies and startups lead innovation, and SMEs and small business owners become agents of change, AI transformation can become an opportunity for a new leap forward."
 She also presented a plan to establish a safety net for self-employed people through more systematic policies to manage the excessive business burdens on small business owners. Minister Lee explained, "The government must quantify, using objective indicators, the business burdens weighing on small business owners, such as rent, labor costs, interest and platform fees, and manage them," adding, "We will systematize various policies to ease these business burdens."
 She continued, "Next year will mark 10 years since the Ministry of SMEs and Startups was launched," and urged, "Let's work together with energy, living up to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' name as a startup within the government."

[email protected] Lee Ju-mi Reporter