The Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC) announced on the 20th that it held the 'Korea-ASEAN Venture Finance Talk' in Singapore in collaboration with the Korea-ASEAN Financial Cooperation Center and Sogang University's Graduate School of Technology Management.
The discussion held the previous day was one of the official schedules to commemorate the opening of the KOTEC Singapore branch. It was organized to discuss the establishment of a financial cooperation model between Korea and ASEAN and to foster an international talent startup ecosystem.
The event was attended by 38 participants, including domestic financial institutions, venture capitalists (VCs), and startup representatives that have expanded into the ASEAN region, who shared experiences focused on tasks and policy alternatives to stimulate international talent entrepreneurship.
KOTEC, which hosted the discussion, shared key policy tasks such as ▲ financial support measures for corporations entering ASEAN ▲ investment-linked programs based on technology evaluation ▲ international talent startup support strategies.
Moon Seong-wook, head of the Graduate School of Technology Management at Sogang University, noted, 'For talented individuals who have gained academic and practical experience overseas to return to Korea and challenge themselves to start a business, there needs to be consistency in the entire financial system and social acceptance, beyond simple financial support.'
He added, 'Having a structure that policy finance institutions can systematically buffer the uncertainties and risks that may arise at the early stage of entrepreneurship is a key element for stimulating international talent entrepreneurship.'
Kwon Sang-yoon, head of AidMi, a healthcare technology startup operating locally in Singapore, said, 'The most important factors in the early stages of entrepreneurship are market accessibility and practical networking opportunities,' and emphasized, 'If a startup exchange program between Korea and ASEAN is institutionalized, a two-way entrepreneurial ecosystem can be further activated.'
Lee Young-jik, head of the Korea-ASEAN Financial Cooperation Center, emphasized, 'I expect KOTEC's technology finance model will contribute practically to the establishment of a startup and venture ecosystem in the ASEAN region,' adding, 'In the future, we will continue to strengthen policy linkage and cooperation at the center level in collaboration with KOTEC.'