Ministry of SMEs and Startups Seeks Nominations for 'Win-Win Cooperation Promotion Awards' Until October 13

Three Categories: Performance Sharing, Win-Win Payment, and Business Sector Protection Systems

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on September 13 that it will be accepting nominations for the "2026 Awards for Outstanding Contributions to the Promotion of Win-Win Cooperation Systems" until October 13 of next month, aiming to recognize individuals and organizations that have actively participated in performance sharing and mutually beneficial payment systems.

This award is designed to discover individuals and organizations that have contributed to creating a voluntary mutually beneficial ecosystem and alleviating business sector conflicts by participating in systems promoting cooperation between large corporations, smaller companies, and small business owners. The award also aims to spread best practices.

The areas eligible for nomination are: ▲Expanding Performance Sharing ▲Expanding Win-Win Payment ▲Business Sector Protection. A total of 32 commendations from the minister of SMEs and Startups will be awarded across these three categories.

In the field of expanding performance sharing, the award is open to companies that have established innovative joint goals between principal and subcontractor companies and have effectively shared the outcomes of their collaboration to achieve these goals. Principal and subcontractor firms that have completed performance sharing projects can apply jointly, and three outstanding performance sharing projects will be selected, with a total of six commendations to be awarded.

In the field of expanding win-win payment, a total of 20 commendations will be awarded to individuals and organizations that have either pioneered the introduction and use of mutually beneficial payment systems or contributed to promoting win-win payments throughout secondary or lower transaction stages, thus activating the use of such payment systems.

This year, as a follow-up to the "Win-Win Payment System Improvement Measures" announced in May, the ministry will also separately recognize achievements in the distribution sector. The aim is to actively promote best practices in win-win payments within the relatively underparticipating distribution sector and encourage greater participation from distribution companies.

In the "Business Sector Protection" category, companies that have faithfully implemented laws, notifications, and detailed regulations under the business sector protection system—such as livelihood-suitable industries for small business owners, SMEs-appropriate industries, and business coordination/mutual growth agreements—will be recognized.

To ensure that these systems function smoothly in practice and effectively protect business sectors, the ministry will revise related regulations and consider individuals who have contributed to conflict mediation as eligible for the award, with a total of six commendations to be presented.

Applications will be accepted from September 14 until October 13. Applicants must prepare an award application form and a statement of achievements and submit them via email.

Upon reviewing the submitted documents, the ministry will confirm award recipients through deliberation by the Public Merit Review Committee, and the awards will be presented at the "2026 Mutual Growth Week Ceremony" scheduled to be held in November.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.