President Park Geun-hye pledged Thursday to help young South Koreans launch startups as part of efforts to address challenges facing Asia's fourth-largest economy.

South Korea's economy has been beset by low growth with its exports plunging 7.9 percent last year. South Korea's exports account for about half of its gross domestic product.

Park said new industries based on new technologies are the solution to address low growth.

"We should create a condition, in which young people with good ideas can try to create startups to ensure new technologies and ideas can lead to the country's economic development," Park said in a meeting with several heads of startups at an innovation center in the country's central city of Daejeon.

She said the government and innovation centers will provide assistance to those who are seeking to launch startups with good ideas.

South Korea set up 17 innovation centers across the country to match up local startups and venture firms with conglomerates, which can provide resources to smaller companies so that they can turn creative ideas into real businesses.

Park also expressed hope that innovation centers will become a "stepping stone" for young people in finding jobs.

The innovation centers have provided support to 800 startups, which in turn attracted investments worth 150 billion won ($120 million), according to Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office.

South Korea has been pushing to encourage young people to create startups in a country where many people still do not want to take risks as it is not be easy to bounce back from a business failure.

Many South Korean college graduates still prefer to join Samsung Electronics Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and other corporate giants over venture startups. (Yonhap)