비자와 쇼피파이, 중기부와 손잡아 한국 중소기업의 온라인 해외 진출 지원하기로
South Korea's small businesses are going to be getting help expanding overseas... from Visa... and the online retail giant Shopify.
The small business ministry has signed an MOU with these two companies so that SMEs can get support in payment processing, distribution and developing their online presence.
Han Seong-woo reports.
American credit-card firm Visa and Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify, whose online platform is used in over 170 countries, have agreed to support the online and overseas expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises in South Korea.
"So what we wanted to do is to support them to go offline to go online because online sales are accelerating. Therefore, we wanted to provide them with end to end solutions: to develop the website, to accept payments, and to distribute the products..."
The companies on Wednesday signed an MOU with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Online Shopping Association, and pledged to provide support in several ways including offering automated solutions based on artificial intelligence.
Minister Park Young-sun gave a speech, commending Korean SMEs for enduring the economic hardships from COVID-19
"Among OECD nations, South Korea was least economically affected by COVID-19 in large part due to the resilience of its SMEs."
Several small and medium-sized businesses, mostly cosmetic and fashion brands, were invited to take part in presentations and display their items at the event.
Among the owners was former short track speed skating Olympic gold medalist, Park Seung-hi who now runs her own SME specializing in leather bags.
"I'm hoping merchants can overcome the pandemic's impact by going global through online endeavors."
With strong support from the government and these major global firms, the future looks bright for Korean SMEs aiming to enter overseas markets.
Han Seong-woo, Arirang News.
