Korea Federation of SMEs "Tailored Support Measures for Root Industries Needed by Region"

'2023 2nd Root Industry Committee Meeting' Held

The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (Chairman Kim Ki-moon) announced on the 23rd that it held the '2023 2nd Root Industry Committee Meeting' at the Busan Jangnim Surface Treatment Business Cooperative in Saha-gu, Busan. The Root Industry Committee is composed mainly of six major root industries such as casting and mold to resolve on-site difficulties of root SMEs and to discover policy tasks.

On this day, 16 representatives of root SMEs from various industries attended, including Chairman Kim Dong-hyun of the Gyeonggi Casting Industry Cooperative as the committee chairman, Park Pyung-jae, chairman of the Korea Surface Treatment Industry Cooperative, Joo Bo-won, chairman of the Korea Heat Treatment Industry Cooperative, and Kim Yang-geun, chairman of the Busan Jangnim Surface Treatment Industry Cooperative.

Attendees of the Root Industry Committee, including Kim Dong-hyun, Chairman of the Root Industry Committee (5th from the left in the front row), are taking a commemorative photo.

This committee began with a presentation by the Busan Jangnim Surface Treatment Business Cooperative, which has been reborn as an eco-friendly surface treatment complex after about three years of construction following its selection as a pilot project for the root industry leading complex by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In the Busan Jangnim Surface Treatment Complex, 62 surface treatment companies generate annual sales of 310 billion KRW and create 1,100 jobs. With an investment of 18 billion KRW through the pilot project, it has transformed into a modern complex equipped with a joint wastewater treatment facility capable of treating 1,800m³ of wastewater per day, an attached research institute, and worker convenience facilities.

Kim Yang-geun, chairman of the Busan Jangnim Surface Treatment Industry Cooperative, said, "Root companies are the foundation of key industries such as automobiles and shipbuilding, but it is true that they were less preferred due to poor working conditions," adding, "I hope the case of the Jangnim Complex, reborn as a modern complex, will become one of the paths for the root industry to advance."

Kim Dong-hyun, chairman of the Root Industry Committee, said, "Although the scope of root technologies has expanded from six to fourteen due to the revision of the Root Industry Act, related budgets are rather being cut," and added, "To develop the root industry, which is the oldest future technology, differentiated regional support measures such as local government support ordinances and central government policy support including reduction of power infrastructure fund charges must be backed."