The Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) announced on Oct. 20 that it held an academic conference on global SME finance with the Korean Economic Association (KEA) to mark the 60th anniversary of its foundation at IBK Headquarters in Eulji-ro, Seoul.
Korean and foreign experts in the SME finance and digital sectors participated online and offline under the theme of “Digital Era: The Present and Future of Small and Medium Business Finance.”
The KEA has represented Korean economists the last 70 years. At the moment, it has about 5,000 members, including more than 1,000 lifetime members.
“It is a meaningful event to discuss the right direction of SME innovation and a future roadmap for SME finance in the era of big changes amid the pandemic, the advancement of digital technology and the adoption of ESG management,” said Yoon Jong-won, president of the IBK in a welcoming speech.
“I will reflect the results of the research support project and the opinions of experts in the IBK’s supports to sharpen the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).”
“In 2021, Korea is the world's most innovative country with digital technology,” said Ayhan Kose, director of the World Bank, in an online keynote speech.
“Korea will be able to support emerging countries through an inclusive financial system built with its experiences in achieving remarkable economic growth and innovative technology in the future.”
Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, director of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), called for continued cooperation between the IBK and international organizations, saying, “We need an innovative cooperation organization to fundamentally improve the resilience of SMEs.”
In the last session, prizes were given to writers of three outstanding papers - A Study on Determinants of Investment in Startups, A Study on Machine Learning-based Value Evaluation for Investment in Small and Medium Businesses and A Study on IP Financial Support.
The three papers were selected through an academic paper contest held in January.
Until now, the IBK has conducted an academic paper support project to promote academic research on SMEs to share data related to SMEs and give support funds for research.
Meanwhile, IBK is recruiting innovative startups for its Changgong Startup Support Program for the first half of 2022 by introducing a step-by-step support system to help startups grow. Startups eligible should be with less than seven years old.
Through evaluations based on application forms in the first stage and face-to-face evaluations in the second stage, the IBK will finally select a total of 55 companies to be supported at three centers in Mapo (20 startups), Guro (20 startups) and Busan (15 startups).
The recruitment period will run until November 16 and the finally selected startups will be announced in December.
Applications can be made on the IBK Changgong website on the internet. The website also provides services such as self-diagnosis kits that can self-check and analyze the current status of companies, customized solution proposals, the latest trends, and information on support project by sectors.
The selected companies will be provided with office space, one-on-one mentoring, and rights to take part in demonstration days to induce investment for five months from January next year.
The IBK will also select excellent companies and provides financial support through its direct investment or indirect investment methods using funds established with investment from the IBK.
“We will provide the final selected companies with customized financial and non-financial services that suit their current conditions,” an IBK official said.
IBK Changgong is a startup fostering platform that supports the success of start-ups.
Since the opening of IBK Changgong Mapo in December 2017, the IBK has opened two more IBK Changgong Centers — IBK Changgong Guro and IBK Changgong Busan.
IBK is scheduled to open IBK Changgong Daejeon as the fourth IBK Changgong Center in December 2021.
The IBK Changgong Program has empowered it to provide 363.7 billion won for 369 startups through investments and loans. It also recorded 4,932 cases of consulting, mentoring, and IR events.
_글로벌 중소기업금융 학술 컨퍼런스.jpg)
