[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] LG Sangsa has been selected as the 15th "Jasanghan Company (Voluntary Win-Win Cooperation Company)" by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Among the companies selected so far, LG Sangsa is the first to promote win-win development with startups targeting overseas markets.
On the 22nd, LG Sangsa announced that it signed a business agreement for Jasanghan Company with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea International Trade Association at the LG Gwanghwamun Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The signing ceremony was attended by key stakeholders related to SMEs and startups, including Yoon Chun-sung, CEO of LG Sangsa; Park Young-sun, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups); Kim Young-joo, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association; Kim Soon-chul, Secretary General of the Large and Small Cooperation Foundation; Kim Kwang-hyun, President of the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development; and Baek Mi-hyun, Head of IBK Industrial Bank of Korea.
The term "Jasanghan Company" refers to companies that voluntarily practice win-win cooperation by sharing the technology and infrastructure of large corporations with small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners. It is a public-private cooperation project selected by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. On the first anniversary of the Jasanghan Company project this year, 14 companies including large corporations such as Naver and POSCO, financial institutions, and public organizations were selected.
LG Sangsa, selected as the 15th Jasanghan Company, has decided through this agreement to focus on supporting startups' overseas expansion and commercialization as well as the overseas market development of small and medium-sized ventures.
In particular, LG Sangsa plans to develop a new startup overseas expansion support model through public-private cooperation by jointly utilizing the Korea International Trade Association's overseas startup infrastructure and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' K-Startup Center infrastructure and network to establish a startup overseas expansion hub (ICT Innovation Center).
Leveraging its characteristics as a specialized trading company, LG Sangsa will help excellent K-Health companies and BrandK companies find overseas opportunities based on its 70 years of export-import know-how and diverse overseas business experience. Marketing efforts will be promoted using influential local online and offline distribution channels, and partnerships and consortium-style joint entries will be actively considered. In the second half of this year, plans include hosting online export consultation meetings and establishing offline showrooms in overseas locations for excellent and promising SMEs. Low-interest loan support using a 60 billion KRW scale win-win growth fund will also be activated.
Park Young-sun, Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "This agreement is an opportunity for our SMEs and startups to gain the know-how and network of large corporations that will lower the threshold for overseas expansion, and it will also be an opportunity for LG Sangsa to expand its existing business model. I appreciate LG Sangsa for presenting a model where everyone can 'win-win,' and the government will actively support it."
In response, Yoon Chun-sung, CEO of LG Sangsa, said, "It is meaningful to have the opportunity to contribute to the overseas expansion, growth, and development of SMEs and startups with overseas marketing capabilities and abundant networks that leverage the specialized strengths of a general trading company. We will fulfill our responsibilities as a Jasanghan Company that exemplifies win-win cooperation."
Recently, LG Sangsa is actively reviewing new business development across all business areas including energy, industrial materials, and solutions. While expanding the role and proportion of distribution and trading, which are the core functions of a general trading company, it is accelerating new business development tailored to the rapidly changing market, including ICT solution business development and entry into healthcare-related businesses in the medical and health fields.
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