本文係敘述信用保證制度之理念、起源及國際組織，並介紹中小企業信用保證基金之運作機制與成效，同時探討全球信用保證制度之發展趨勢與中小企業信用保證基金未來之發展方向。 信用保證制度係藉由信用保證之提供，協助無法提供充足擔保品，但努力經營且具有發展潛力之中小企業，順利自金融機構取得企業營運所需之融資。 信用保證制度起源於歐洲；瑞士早於19世紀末即設有信用保證機構，惟至1920年代，始逐漸確立當今信用保證制度之雛型。第二次世界大戰結束後，信用保證制度蓬勃發展，如今，信用保證機構已遍及全球，成為各主要國家提供中小企業融資管道之基本機制。我國政府亦於1974年成立「中小企業信用保證基金」，專責辦理中小企業融資保證業務。2004年奉行政院核定實施轉型發展方案，不斷推出新措施，積極提升服務效能，創造了可觀的績效。展望未來，中小企業的發展仍甚賴信保功能的發揮，各國信保機構也感負擔日益加重，普遍致力開源節流，加強風險管理，服務多元化。

In addition to introducing the mechanism and performance of the Small and Medium Business Credit Guarantee Fund (SMEG), the article also interprets the concepts and origin of the credit guarantee system. Furthermore, it discusses the global trend of the credit guarantee system, and the outlook of the SMEG. The credit guarantee system is designed to help those small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in normal operation but short of collateral obtain financing from the financial institutions by way of guarantee provision. The credit guarantee system originates in Europe. The initial guarantee organizations, although not well-organized ones, were first founded in Switzerland in late 19th century. However, the fundamental mechanism of the current credit guarantee system was not established until the late 1920s. The system developed rapidly soon after the World War II, and has been widely adopted by all over the world, and become the fundamental mechanism for the SME-financing channel in the major countries over the past decades. The SMEG was set up by the government in 1974 to take charge of the credit guarantee for SME-oriented financing. Since being approved its “Transformation and Development Plan” by the Cabinet in 2004, the SMEG has launched new measures and upgraded its services, which has accomplished remarkable achievements. Looking into the future, the development of SMEs still heavily relies on the credit guarantee mechanism. Meanwhile, as the countermeasures of easing the financial burden, most of the credit guarantee institutions in the world tend to work on increasing revenues, reenforcing the risk control and expanding their services.