"Focusing All Efforts on Overcoming Crisis"... New Year's Meeting of Small and Medium Business Owners

Chairman Kim Ki-moon Requests Active Policy Support and Institutional Preparation from Government and National Assembly

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (Kbiz) announced on the 19th that it held the 2021 New Year's Greeting Meeting for Small and Medium Business Owners by inviting key figures from various sectors both online and offline.

This year's New Year's Greeting Meeting was conducted with a minimal number of participants in strict compliance with social distancing and quarantine guidelines due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For small and medium business owners nationwide who could not attend in person, the event was broadcast live in real time via YouTube.

Attendees at the event included Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap, Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun, Senior Presidential Secretary for Jobs Lim Seo-jung, Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon, People Power Party Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in, and Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation Sohn Kyung-shik.

Additionally, small and medium business representatives and workers from 12 regions nationwide, including Vietnam, participated non-face-to-face through online means.

In his opening remarks, Kbiz Chairman Kim Ki-moon said, "Last year, 60.3% of all small and medium enterprises experienced a decline in sales, facing the worst economic environment since the IMF financial crisis," and added, "I urge our small and medium enterprises, which possess the power to 'turn crisis into opportunity,' to take the lead in overcoming the crisis by focusing all their capabilities on new investments and job creation."

He continued, "I hope the government and the National Assembly will actively support and improve policies and systems to enable small and medium enterprises to devote themselves to overcoming the crisis, including ▲ continuous support to resolve liquidity crises ▲ preparation of supplementary measures for the Serious Accident Punishment Act ▲ recognition of exceptions to the 52-hour workweek system considering the characteristics of industries ▲ establishment of a fair economic ecosystem between large and small-medium enterprises."

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in, Minister Park Young-sun, and others who attended the event promised multifaceted support efforts for small and medium enterprises through their New Year's greetings. In response, small and medium business representatives attending via video conference expressed their gratitude and conveyed policies urgently needed on the ground, such as loan maturity extensions due to liquidity crises, flexible application of quarantine regulations considering industries, and reductions in income tax and value-added tax.

Meanwhile, marking its 28th year, the New Year's Greeting Meeting for Small and Medium Business Owners is hosted by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business as a venue where key figures leading Korea from the government, National Assembly, and small and medium business sectors gather to reaffirm their New Year's resolutions and boost the morale of small and medium business owners.