Jungjingong, "Led SME ESG Support This Year"

The 3rd ESG Management Committee Meeting Held

The Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chairman Kang Seok-jin) announced on the 21st that it held the '2023 3rd ESG Management Committee.' The ESG Management Committee, launched in March last year, consists of a total of seven members, including three internal executives, including Chairman Kang, and four experts from various fields of ESG (Environment, Social, Governance). It plays a role in making key decisions and providing advice related to the Corporation's ESG management.

At the meeting, the Corporation reported and reviewed the institution's ESG management performance, including the expansion of ESG management among small and medium venture businesses this year. The Corporation collaborated with parent companies such as SK Siltron, which face difficulties in managing ESG among their partners, conducting ESG self-assessments and in-depth assessments for about 1,400 partner companies, and provided customized consulting based on the results.

Kang Seok-jin, Chairman of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, is speaking at the 3rd ESG Management Committee meeting of 2023 held on the 21st at the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency headquarters in Mokdong, Seoul.

In addition, to promote the growth of promising eco-friendly and green industry companies, investment and loans were expanded to 19.9 billion KRW, and in connection with 13 commercial banks, funds amounting to 80 billion KRW were supplied to companies excelling in ESG practices at an average interest rate 2.95 percentage points lower than bank loans.

The Corporation actively pursued its own ESG practices, achieving greenhouse gas reduction targets for four consecutive years through additional acquisition of eco-friendly energy sources, and newly obtained ISO14001 certification, the international standard for environmental management systems.

Furthermore, the Corporation developed its own ESG index model to measure and manage ESG management performance, and plans to continuously strengthen ESG management capabilities by improving vulnerable areas identified during the measurement process. Chairman Kang Seok-jin stated, "ESG is a new era value for the sustainable growth of our economy and companies," adding, "While the Corporation leads the implementation of ESG management, we will further strengthen our role as a stepping stone on the front lines so that our small and medium venture businesses can take ESG management not as an obstacle but as an opportunity for a new leap forward, becoming the growth engine of the Republic of Korea."