SEMAS Focuses on Normalizing Small Businesses to Overcome Crisis

Chairman Cho Bong-hwan of Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS) holds a New Year meeting with reporters at the K-BIZ Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on Jan. 26. (Photos: SEMAS)

Chairman Cho Bong-hwan of Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS).

Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS) will concentrate on normalizing the operation of small businesses and traditional markets, which have been buffeted by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At a New Year meeting with reporters at the K-BIZ Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on Jan. 26, SEMAS Chairman Cho Bong-hwan said his organization will attach top priority to normalizing the operation of small businesses and traditional markets.

SEMAS will expand the portion of its direct loans to small businesses from 29.2 percent last year to 56.5 percent this year, Chairman Cho said. SEMAS will continue to supply 3.4 trillion won in an emergency support fund this year.

Last year, SEMAS offered 23.9 trillion won in disaster support funding and 4.2 trillion won in direct loans, as well as implementing marketing activities tailored to boost each season’s market economy.

SEMAS also yielded administrative achievements, including the introducing of “My Data,” in the public sector and obtaining the anti-corruption management certificate, ISO 37001.

This year, SEMAS plans to establish a system to compensate small businesses for damage they sustained, supply disinfection support funds quickly, and offer more emergency loans.

SEMAS will concentrate on the recovery and resurgence of small businesses struggling with overcoming a crisis.

SEMAS decided to offer the disinfection support fund via non-face-to-face, online and paperless processing by upgrading the administrative database.

The scope of beneficiaries of the disinfection support fund will be expanded from 400 million won, in terms of sales, to 1 billion won.

Small businesses that opened before last Dec. 15 and saw sales decline or are expected to see sales drop are qualified to receive the disinfection funding.

SEMAS also implements projects to pursue digital transformation, including ones to supply new smart technologies to 5,500 businesses, support O2O platform entry to 1,700 businesses and help 22 traditional markets open online markets.

MSS Implements Project to Supply Smart Technologies to 5,500 Small Businesses

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups is implementing a project to supply smart technologies to small businesses to cope amid the era of non-face-to-face contact and digital transformation.

MSS put the project on public notice to supply smart technologies to small businesses, and applicants will be accepted by March 18. The ministry set aside 24.5 billion won for the project.

The ministry will explore smart technologies suiting management and service innovation, and supply them to about 5,500 small businesses as part of efforts to help small businesses spur digital transition.

The project will prioritize in small businesses concentrated in commercial districts and ones affiliated with each business’ association.

Applications will be accepted from other small businesses and ones not affiliated with each industry’s association.

Each small business beneficiary will be offered a maximum of 5 million won. Each smart shop will be given a maximum of 15 million won.

The ministry plans to implement a pilot rental and lease service project to introduce big-ticket equipment like service robots. Specifics are available on the websites of MSS and SEMAS.