Korea Federation of SMEs
Managed through the Public-Private Productivity Improvement Committee
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] Voices calling for the enactment of a special law to improve the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are growing louder. The SME sector expects that if productivity improves, a virtuous cycle will be created where excellent talent flows into SMEs by sharing performance with workers.
On the 17th, Noh Minseon, head of the Future Strategy Research Group at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, raised the necessity of enacting a special law during a keynote presentation at the "Policy Forum for Improving SME Productivity" held at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul. She stated, "If the labor productivity gap between large and small-medium enterprises is reduced to the average level of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an annual economic growth rate increase of 0.9% can be expected."
Director Noh emphasized, "According to a survey by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, 88.3% of SMEs and 84.7% of SME employees responded that the enactment of a special law to improve SME productivity is necessary," adding, "It is essential to establish a mid- to long-term plan at the government-wide level to raise the level of productivity innovation activities in SMEs, which currently average only 2.2 generations, and to consider managing this through a Productivity Improvement Committee involving both public and private sectors."
She continued, "It is important that productivity improvement in SMEs is achieved without reducing employment. Efforts to share the results of productivity improvement with workers should be pursued simultaneously."
The forum was organized to diagnose the productivity level of SMEs and the productivity gap between large and small-medium enterprises, and to discuss policy directions such as the enactment of a special law to improve SME productivity. It was planned jointly by the Korea Federation of SMEs and Assemblyman Jeong Taeho of the Democratic Party. Experts from the government, SME sector, and academia attended the forum and presented various opinions.
Kim Gimuon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, said, "I hope that many projects that are practically helpful to SMEs will be prepared through the enactment of the special law to improve SME productivity," adding, "Through these projects, I expect a virtuous cycle to be created where SMEs increase productivity, share performance with workers, and excellent talent flows into SMEs."
Assemblyman Jeong Taeho stated, "The importance of improving SME productivity is growing day by day, but productivity policies are scattered across individual laws, and a comprehensive support system for productivity improvement is lacking," adding, "I will prepare a bill to establish a comprehensive management system so that promoting productivity improvement becomes the top priority in SME support projects."
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