Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business receives Presidential Commendation for expanding SME participation in Economic Census

[Financial News] The Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) received a Presidential Commendation for encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the Economic Census and helping improve the reliability of national statistics. The award is significant in that the federation laid the groundwork for cooperation to ensure that the voices of SMEs on the ground are fully reflected in national statistics.
 According to the government and other sources on the 3rd, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business received a Presidential Commendation at the 2026 Awards Ceremony for Contributions to Large-Scale Statistical Surveys, held at Government Complex Daejeon on the 2nd.
 The Economic Census is a basic national statistic conducted every five years to assess employment, production and business conditions across domestic industries. It is used as a source of data for the economic and industrial policies of the central and local governments, the development of regional industries, and support for small businesses. It is also used by companies to formulate and evaluate business plans.
 Accurately assessing conditions is especially important because SMEs face diverse business environments depending on their industry, size and region. Sufficient participation in the survey is necessary to reflect the industrial structure and business conditions of SMEs in the statistics and to formulate effective policies.
 As an economic organization representing SMEs, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business has gathered views from the field and supported policymaking. It has also continued its cooperative efforts to compile surveys and statistics related to SMEs and advance national statistics.
 The commendation recognizes the federation’s contribution to working with the National Data Agency to ensure the smooth implementation of the “2025 Economic Census” and improve economic statistics, as well as to encourage SMEs to participate in the survey.
 In April this year, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Data Agency and established a framework for cooperation to improve the quality of economic statistics and expand the use of data. The two sides also agreed to pursue not only outreach to promote participation in the Economic Census, but also improvements to statistics to support economic policymaking, wider use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data, and mutual use of data they hold that is needed to compile and process statistics.
 The cooperation is noteworthy because it goes beyond simply encouraging participation in a statistical survey and lays the groundwork for more accurately assessing conditions among SMEs and using that information in policymaking. Greater accuracy and utility of statistics are expected to help shape policies that reflect the characteristics of SMEs by industry and region.
 Kim Byung-soo, head of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business’s Small Business Research Institute, said, “Building on close cooperation with the National Data Agency, we will actively support the SME sector’s participation in national statistical surveys and contribute to producing reliable economic statistics and formulating data-driven policies.”
[email protected] Kim Hyun-cheol Reporter