Lee So-young Visits SMEs in Chungcheong Region; 1,500 Promising Firms to Be Nurtured by 2030

[The Financial News] Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young has embarked on her first regional visits since taking office. Starting with the Chungcheong region, she plans to visit communities across the country, hear about their difficulties and reflect them in policy. 
 The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 15th that Minister Lee would begin her visits to SMEs and small business owners in the Chungcheong region with a visit to an SME in the semiconductor materials, parts and equipment sector in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.
 Over two days and one night, Minister Lee plans to visit, in turn, Daejeon, the “startup city”; the Global Innovation Special Zone in Osong, North Chungcheong Province; K-beauty companies in Sejong; and the Small Business Restart Support Center in Cheongju. 
 Her first stop was LK Chem. Minister Lee toured its production facilities for key materials used in semiconductor thin-film deposition, its smart control room and central research institute, among other sites, and inspected its manufacturing process.
 She then held a meeting with representatives of five companies participating in the Jump-Up Program—LK Chem, KL Cube, Youngpoong Electronics, Saehan and Erkos—and strategic partners providing scale-up support, including Samjong KPMG and Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
 At the meeting, LK Chem and KL Cube presented scale-up success stories alongside strategic partners, while participating companies raised regulatory and business-management difficulties they face as they grow.
 The Ministry of SMEs and Startups also announced plans that day to revamp the Jump-Up Program next year. It plans to divide the existing one-size-fits-all support system into “Jump Up 100,” “Jump Up 500” and “Jump Up 1,000” tiers based on revenue, and nurture 1,500 SMEs with high growth potential by 2030.
 Specifically, it will focus on helping companies with revenue of at least 10 billion won (Jump Up 100) establish a solid management foundation; those with revenue of at least 50 billion won (Jump Up 500) enter new businesses and markets; and those with revenue of at least 100 billion won (Jump Up 1,000) expand overseas operations.
 It also plans to link support policies across five key areas—research and development (R&D), artificial intelligence transformation (AX), securing outstanding talent, financial support and regulatory reform—to address obstacles to companies’ growth.
 Minister Lee said, “The large-scale investments in the three mega-projects being pursued as national priorities must go beyond trickle-down effects for large corporations and lead to higher sales for capable, high-tech SMEs and the creation of quality local jobs,” and emphasized, “We will strengthen the growth ladder so that SMEs, which serve as the backbone of regional growth engines, can make the leap to mid-sized companies.” 

[email protected] Jumi Lee Reporter