[Asia Exclusive] Kim Hobin, President of Jungbu Power, "Co-Growth with SMEs... Finding Answers on the Ground"

Six Consecutive Years of Top Ratings in Win-Win Growth
475 Billion Won Win-Win Program with Dongbanwi
'Cooperative Profit Sharing System' Distributing Financial Gains
Market Support... Establishment of Shared Factory in Indonesia

Creation of Win-Win Cooperation Fund to Secure Emergency Funds
21 Billion Won Support for 46 COVID-19 Affected Companies

Kim Hobin, President of Korea Midland Power, is being interviewed at CEO Suite in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on the 4th. President Kim said, "We have been recognized for our contribution to overcoming national crises and co-prosperity, such as stabilizing the management of small and medium-sized enterprises affected by COVID-19, achieving the highest grade in the government's win-win growth evaluation for six consecutive years." Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

[Interview with Kim Jong-hwa, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups; Organized by Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Korea Midland Power Co., Ltd. (KOMIPO) is renowned as a power generation public enterprise that places special emphasis on win-win growth with its partner small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It has achieved the highest rating for six consecutive years in the win-win growth evaluation conducted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and recently partnered with the Win-Win Growth Committee to operate a win-win cooperation program worth 47.5 billion KRW. In an interview with Asia Economy held on the 4th at Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Kim Ho-bin, President of Korea Midland Power, stated, "We have established a shared maintenance factory called 'K-Factory' in Indonesia to provide a place for our SMEs to perform outsourced maintenance," adding, "By enhancing competitiveness in local power plant maintenance projects, we have supported export performance of approximately 4 million USD for 24 SMEs."

- What projects is Korea Midland Power currently pursuing to promote win-win growth with partner SMEs?

△ We have determined that the survival of SMEs amid the energy ecosystem transition hinges on 'technological competitiveness.' Accordingly, we are expanding support for joint research and development (R&D) and digital innovation transformation. We are implementing joint investment support projects for R&D on intelligent safety robots for power plants in collaboration with innovative venture companies, as well as for the development of high value-added large-scale research projects.

In particular, to support SMEs' overseas expansion, we identify projects with excellent growth potential and technological capabilities and nurture 10 companies annually from planning to overseas market entry. We also actively support market expansion and product promotion through domestic exhibitions and buyer consultation meetings for outstanding SME products. Recently, we established a digital and non-face-to-face overseas expansion support system using a metaverse (extended virtual world) platform. We continuously hold online export consultation meetings with countries in the New Southern region.

- Please explain the excellent model discovery project for the cooperation profit-sharing system that Korea Midland Power is promoting.

△ The cooperation profit-sharing system was introduced with the purpose of sharing Korea Midland Power’s financial gains achieved through joint efforts with SMEs. It has been selected as an excellent cooperation profit-sharing model by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups for two consecutive years, serving as a catalyst for win-win growth.

Last year, the cooperation profit-sharing model was applied to the replacement project of aging facilities by SMEs. Korea Midland Power supported facility investment costs, and SMEs transferred carbon emission rights equivalent to the reduced greenhouse gases to Korea Midland Power. Five percent of Korea Midland Power’s profit from the price difference of pre-agreed emission rights was shared, resulting in approximately 10 million KRW in profits shared among 18 SMEs.

This year, the cooperation profit-sharing system was applied to the coal ash recycling promotion project. Coal ash has continuously raised concerns about its harmfulness due to landfill. Approximately 30 million KRW, which is 0.2% of the landfill fee reduction, is shared with related SMEs, and about 3 billion KRW of revenue from coal ash sales is shared with the local community.

Korea Midland Power Headquarters.

- What measures are in place to assist SMEs in entering overseas markets?

△ Through export SME capacity building and growth ladder-type overseas market support projects, we have achieved export results of approximately 46 million USD (about 54.5 billion KRW) over the past three years.

In particular, to enhance the competitiveness of SMEs entering overseas markets, we established Korea Midland Power’s local subsidiary ‘K-Asia’ in Indonesia, reducing local agent fees by utilizing import licenses. Over the past three years, we have provided 21 SMEs with overseas power plants as test beds, achieving overseas expansion results worth about 1 million USD.

We opened the K-Factory, a shared maintenance factory in Indonesia, providing SMEs with a place for outsourced maintenance, and supported export performance of 4 million USD for 24 SMEs by utilizing K-Asia’s maintenance license to carry out local power plant maintenance projects. In Indonesia, it is said that if you don’t know Korea Midland Power, you might as well be a spy.

- What support measures are available for partner companies and small business owners affected by COVID-19?

△ To secure emergency funds for SMEs, we established a win-win cooperation fund and supported 21 billion KRW to 46 companies affected by COVID-19. In May, we created a new win-win growth cooperation fund worth 10 billion KRW targeting small business owners facing the greatest crisis due to COVID-19, providing loans of 10 billion KRW to 91 affected small businesses.

We also used cooperation profit-sharing to reduce rent and utility fees, and held the first online purchase consultation meeting among public institutions. In addition to targeted support for vulnerable groups such as local cultural artists, flower farmers, and the aviation industry facing existential crises, we supported the creation of smart traditional markets by building online shopping applications (apps). These activities are part of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management aimed at regional community activities, which we plan to continue.

Furthermore, we plan to support the introduction of a Chungnam-type delivery app for small business owners in the food service sector facing crisis due to social distancing, with a project budget of 100 million KRW over three years. We are also promoting an experiential smart market support project to transform small neighborhood supermarkets into smart markets.

Kim Ho-bin, President of Korea Midland Power, is being interviewed at CEO Suite in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, on the 4th./Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

- Last month, you signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Win-Win Growth Committee to operate a win-win cooperation program worth 47.5 billion KRW. How will it be operated?

△ This is a wage gap reduction agreement aimed at fundamentally resolving the wage gap between large and small-medium enterprises. The main contents include adherence to the three principles of proper payment (paying the right price, paying on time, and paying through win-win settlement), support for wages and welfare benefits, enhancement of wage payment capacity led by innovation, and financial support for management stabilization.

We plan to jointly respond with the Win-Win Growth Committee to the rapidly changing energy industry paradigm, including climate change and carbon neutrality. Over the next three years, a total of 47.5 billion KRW in support is scheduled for partner SMEs and their employees.

- You have achieved excellent results consecutively in the government’s public institution win-win growth evaluation.

△ The key factor was implementing win-win growth projects that provide practical help to SMEs. We were recognized for contributing to overcoming national crises such as stabilizing SME management amid COVID-19 and win-win growth, achieving the highest rating for six consecutive years in the win-win growth evaluation.

In particular, we actively engaged in activities to find answers to win-win growth on the ground. We directly visited outstanding partner SMEs to listen to their management difficulties and reflect them in support policies. We visited major project sites to secure technological competitiveness in domestic material industries and to localize foreign power generation equipment, encouraging R&D activities.

Achieving the highest rating for six consecutive years in win-win growth is the result of the dedication and efforts of all Korea Midland Power employees. We will further strengthen cooperative and solidarity-based win-win growth that considers SMEs’ difficulties and helps partner companies adapt to changes in the energy ecosystem.