On the 22nd, the Small and Medium Business Corporation and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups staged the ‘7th Youth Entrepreneurship Academy Graduation Ceremony’ at the Small and Medium Business Training Institute in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do.
This event was attended by 415 inventive entrepreneurs who have quenched their ideas and technologies over the previous year with regular support such as money and instruction. Among the graduates were Song Young-chul, CEO of DTS (diamond cutting tools), and Sang-hwan Byeon, CEO of Acrosolution (portable air purifier), as well as 18 others who earned the Minister’s Award (6 persons) and the Chairman’s Award for Small and Medium Industry (12 people).
In an encouraging address, Hong Jong-hak, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, “In order to change the trend of our economy, ‘innovation through coexistence’ is important, and the subject of innovation is the private sector, including entrepreneurs.” It has been privatized, and future start-up support programs will be radically redesigned to focus on performance. We intend to encourage different measures in the future to foster a tech start-up boom, such as enhancing the constant support system and encouraging new start-up contests.”
According to a Ministry of SMEs and Startups official, “the Youth Entrepreneurship Academy, which began in 2011, graduated 1,515 students by 2016, resulting in sales of 1.148 trillion won and employment of 3,642 people.” We will select 450 persons from the field and begin accepting applications in March.”
