Women Entrepreneurs, "Improvement of Common Regulations for Entrepreneurs and SMEs, Not Just Women"

Small and Medium Business Ombudsman Proposes 'Current Issues in the SME Sector' at Meeting with Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association

Jubong Park, Small and Medium Business Ombudsman (Vice Minister level).
[Photo by Small and Medium Business Ombudsman Support Group]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Female entrepreneurs appealed for improvements not in regulations and difficulties as women-owned businesses, but as entrepreneurs facing common regulations and challenges experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea.

Park Ju-bong, Small and Medium Business Ombudsman (vice ministerial level), announced on the afternoon of the 6th that he held an on-site regulatory innovation meeting jointly with the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association in the main conference room of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association is a statutory women’s economic organization established under the Women’s Enterprise Support Act in 1999, conducting various support projects such as startup support, market access support, capacity building, and policy proposals to foster women-owned businesses and expand women's economic activities.

The meeting was held as the closing event of the 'Continuous Meetings with SME Cooperatives and Associations' promoted by the Ombudsman throughout this year to vividly hear the on-site voices regarding regulations and difficulties faced by SMEs.

Female entrepreneurs demanded improvements in regulations and difficulties they face not as women entrepreneurs but as entrepreneurs and SME operators. Company A, which attended the meeting, stated, "Root companies always suffer from labor shortages," and suggested, "If workers wish, please change the allowable extended working hours standard from the current weekly basis to a monthly basis and expand it from the current 12 hours per week to 52 hours per month." Company B expressed difficulties in employing foreign workers and requested, "While illegal foreign employment should be prohibited, please also prevent abuses by foreign workers who threaten well-intentioned entrepreneurs by exploiting the system."

In response, Ombudsman Park said, "We are reviewing institutional reforms to expand the management unit of extended working hours from the current one week to one month or more upon labor-management agreement," and added, "We are also examining measures to impose sanctions on the number of workplace changes by foreign workers."

Additionally, attending entrepreneurs requested △relaxation of inspection standards and periods for procured goods, and △introduction of an upper limit on imprisonment for serious accident punishments.

Lee Jung-han, President of the Women Entrepreneurs Association, said, "Regulatory innovation is most important for the growth and development of 2.95 million women-owned businesses, which account for more than 40% of all SMEs in our country," and added, "We will actively discover various regulations and difficulties by representing the voices from the field of women-owned businesses and work together with the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman to promote regulatory innovation."

Ombudsman Park promised, "The fact that the agenda items discussed at today’s meeting were concerns not only of women-owned businesses but of all SMEs confirms that the role of women-owned businesses has grown significantly," and said, "We will do our best to help women-owned businesses play a greater role as key players in our economy."