More foreign entrepreneurs are starting new businesses in Seoul with the help of the Seoul Global Center’s entrepreneurship program.

SGC has helped at least 36 foreign entrepreneurs start new businesses, including restaurants, education services, business consulting and an auto parts retailer, since it started the Business Start-up School in 2009. So far, 326 people have taken part in the program.

“I was having trouble with establishing a company in Seoul because I didn’t do the foreign investor registration. The city helped me with going through the registration process. If there is a foreign entrepreneur having trouble starting up a new business because of small cultural differences in Korea, I highly recommend the entrepreneurship program at Seoul Global Center,” said Olga Sabitov, who opened an auto parts wholesaler as well as retailer in Seoul after taking the program.

The two-week entrepreneurship program, conducted in English and Korean, provides lectures on practical information necessary to start up a new business, such as registration process, the government approval, promotion and marketing, opening an Internet shopping mall and registering a patent.

In each lecture, taught by an expert free of charge, participants are given a chance to have in depth consultation with a lecturer, as it receives about 25 people at maximum per class.

“I came to take the lecture to learn business culture and environment of Korea because I am planning to open a consulting firm here. I think I have some advantage over other entrepreneurs now,” said a 33-year-old Seikh Ali from India who recently finished the program.

Foreigners who completed the entrepreneurship program are eligible to apply for bank loans to small businesses of up to 50 million won ($43,000) from this year, according to city officials.

By Lee Woo-young
(wylee@heraldcorp.com)