2020.11.18
Visa named ‘Inclusive Company’ by Ministry of SMEs and Startups for commitment to support small businesses entering overseas markets
MOU on 11th attended by Park
Youngsun, Minister of SMEs and Startups; Al Kelly, CEO and Chairman of Visa;
Chris Clark, Regional President for Visa Asia Pacific
Olympic short track champion
turned fashion brand CEO Park Seung-hi and other small and medium-sized
business owners showcase their experiences
November 11, 2020. Visa, the world’s
leading payment network, has become the 21st company to receive
‘Inclusive Company’ designation by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS),
which recognizes large businesses’ voluntary efforts to promote win-win
partnership with small and medium-sized enterprises and merchants by sharing
their technologies and infrastructure. The designation is a meaningful nod to
Visa’s efforts to support small and medium-sized merchants, which are among the
hardest hit by the pandemic, to penetrate online channels and overseas markets
and make their payment process more efficient.
At its
office in Seoul on November 11, Visa signed a four-party memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with the MSS, global e-commerce platform Shopify and the
Korea On-Line Shopping Association (KOLSA) to assist Korean small and
medium-sized businesses and merchants to advance to global markets. The signing
ceremony was attended by Park Youngsun, Minister of MSS; Chris Clark, Regional
President of Visa Asia Pacific; Mark Wang, East Asia Lead at Shopify; Kim
Hakdo, Head of Korea SMEs and Startups Agency; and Kim Yoontae, Vice Chairman
of KOLSA.
Moreover,
Park Seung-hi, an Olympic gold medalist turned
CEO of her own fashion brand, and key hero merchants from Visa’s Where You Shop
Matter initiative, joined the ceremony to introduce their company’s products
and shared their expectations for this partnership.
Visa will
collaborate with homegrown startup SpurSell to establish a one-stop integrated
system that helps small and medium-sized merchants penetrate overseas and
online channels and provide practical support as a partner.
The
partnership comprises of sales solution, advertising and marketing supports
through global networks operated by Visa and its partners, in addition to a B2B
solution based on Visa’s tokenization technology for more efficient payment and
settlement processes.
“With
e-commerce rapidly growing driven by the pandemic, I would like to thank Visa
on behalf of the Republic of Korea government for the company’s multi-pronged
efforts to support Korean small and medium-sized merchants to enter global online
marketplaces,” said Minister Park Young-sun. “The MoU reflects the government’s
strong commitment to a meaningful public-private across the border
collaboration.”
“Since
first entering the Korean market in 1978, Visa as a global payment network
company has been focused on establishing a strong payment ecosystem across the
world. We have been especially impressed by the Korean government’s diverse
efforts to overcome the crisis induced by COVID-19,” said Al Kelly, Visa CEO
and chairman through a congratulatory video message. “The designation as an
‘Inclusive Company’ resonates with Visa’s core principles of Openness,
Inclusiveness, and Trust.”
Chris
Clark, Regional President of Visa Asia Pacific, said, “This was an opportunity
to for us to have a greater sense of responsibility for the Korean market. We
will do our best to provide opportunities for small and medium-sized Korean
businesses to advance into bigger markets.”