[Interview] Gu Ja-cheon, Chairman of Changwon Chamber of Commerce: "Changwon Economy Comparable to Daejeon and Gwangju... ESG Policy Support Needed, Must Become a 'Mega City' for Balanced Development"

When Local Governments, Politicians, and Business Leaders Unite, They Overcome the 'Virus' and Make a New Leap

Changwon is a 'Business-Friendly' City... 12 Years Since Machangjin Integration, the First Year as a Special City

Gu Ja-cheon, Chairman of Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporters Kim Yong-woo and Lee Sang-hyun] Masan, Changwon, and Jinhae administratively merged in 2010, and after 12 years, an unprecedented ‘special city’ with a population exceeding one million was born. While it is indeed a basic local government, among the four special cities launched on the 13th, Changwon is the only non-capital region city.

Putting aside administration and status, when it comes to the economy, it is appropriate to speak of it without the ‘basic’ label.

“Embracing Changwon National Industrial Complex (Changwon), Masan Free Trade Zone (Masan), and Jinhae National Industrial Complex (Jinhae), Changwon has become the core of the entire industrial economy of Gyeongnam, boasting the highest Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) among all basic local governments nationwide, rivaling metropolitan local governments like Gwangju and Daejeon!”

To businesspeople, Changwon is known as a ‘corporate city.’ It is a city that has grown alongside companies, and there is no reason to dispute this person’s claim that it is “the place with the highest ‘spirit of corporate love’ in the country.”

On the 19th, at a New Year meeting with businesspeople, Koo Ja-cheon, chairman of the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, closely linked ‘corporate love’ and ‘Changwon’ in his speech. No matter where he travels nationwide or how the year changes, this ‘love chant’ remains Chairman Koo’s unique(?) repertoire.

He is a romantic thinker who stops in front of beautiful paintings and poetic lines even when visiting restaurants, and he is a kind and generous businessman who can make even a first-time acquaintance feel like an old friend.

In the inaugural year of the special city, we met him, the city’s ‘economic leader’ and advocate of the spirit of corporate love.

“Although I have managed various domestic and international business sites and gained much experience, it was a year in which I deeply realized that managing a company and overseeing the regional economy are significantly different roles.”

Chairman Koo also serves as the president of the Gyeongnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Association. He is the CEO and chairman of Shinsung Delta Tech Group, which led him to the leadership position in economic organizations.

Chairman Koo said, “The ‘virus’ that prevented free meetings with people for two years was a higher obstacle than any other and a difficult time.”

“We expected to be free from COVID-19 once vaccinations were completed, but with the emergence of new variants, there is no sign of returning to normal life, and the prolonged domestic demand slump is pushing small and medium enterprises, small business owners, and the common economy to the brink of collapse.”

Having grown Shinsung Delta into a leading company through various hardships such as the foreign exchange crisis, MERS, and THAAD, he said, “Now, when everyone says it is difficult, local governments, politicians, and businesspeople?all the key players in the regional economy?must become one team and pool their capabilities,” urging a mindset for a leap forward.

Although the economic situation this year is not very bright, he believes that a leap forward is possible if efforts are combined.

In fact, after the difficult year of 2021 ended, the Business Survey Index (BSI) for the first quarter of the new year was 111.9, indicating that Changwon companies are positively expecting economic recovery this year.

Chairman Koo said, “We are optimistic about sales,” explaining, “With the resumption of industrial production and recovery of consumer sentiment in major countries, since the third quarter of last year, manufacturing production capacity in Changwon’s key industries such as shipbuilding, steel, machinery, and auto parts has been recovering.”

He praises the ‘Southeast Mega City’ strategy as the most representative plan advocating national balanced development. Various policies have been implemented to alleviate the overconcentration in the metropolitan area, but they have not achieved significant effects, and the situation has worsened. This is a solution voluntarily proposed by the metropolitan local governments in the southeast region amid frequent discussions of the risk of local extinction.

Chairman Koo evaluated, “Gyeongbu-Ulsan (Gyeongbu-Ulsan) has had both complementary and competitive aspects due to its adjacent geography and similar industrial structure, with competition being more prominent. Meanwhile, concentration in the metropolitan area has intensified, and there is a consensus that the mega city is the only solution to resolve this, leading to rapid discussions.”

He added that it is now time to move beyond the simple goal of making Gyeongbu-Ulsan one community and to carefully discuss concrete measures that can generate real synergy.

He emphasized, “The core of the metropolitan area’s overconcentrated growth was the government-led construction of a metropolitan transportation network,” and stressed, “To become a united mega city, the most urgent task is to build a transportation network that allows 8 million people to interact within one hour.”

‘ESG management,’ which considers non-financial factors such as Environment, Social, and Governance, has recently become a hot topic in the economic world. Overseas, ESG information disclosure has become mandatory in many cases. In Korea, ESG disclosure will be mandatory for listed companies on the KOSPI market with total assets exceeding 2 trillion won by 2025, and from 2030, for all KOSPI-listed companies.

Regarding this trend, Chairman Koo said, “Currently, large companies and export companies directly doing business with overseas markets are hastening to adopt it, but I believe that soon there will be demands for small and medium-sized and domestic companies as well,” expressing concern that “in reality, it is difficult for small businesses to adopt it immediately.”

He pointed out the reason: “Most small businesses do not even know what they lack or what they need to prepare, let alone the shortage of specialized personnel and capital.”

Chairman Koo said, “The Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry is working with the government and local governments to support ‘individual small business ESG preliminary evaluations’ so that small businesses can establish their own management plans.”

He also hoped that the government would implement bold support policies for small businesses adopting ESG management.