Korea Federation of SMEs Holds '2024 Honam Region Small Business New Year Meeting'

The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (Kbiz) announced on the 23rd that it held the '2024 Honam Region Small Business New Year's Meeting' at The May Hotel in Jeonju, with over 400 participants including local governments and councils from the Honam region, members of the National Assembly, government agencies, small and medium enterprises, and small business owners.

The Small Business New Year's Meeting is an annual event held by region to boost morale and encourage small business owners. This year, it started with the Chungcheong region on the 16th, followed by the Honam region on the 23rd, the Yeongnam region on the 25th, and the Gyeonggi region on the 30th.

At the Honam region New Year's Meeting, local government heads such as ▲Kim Kwan-young, Governor of Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province ▲Park Chang-hwan, Deputy Governor for Political Affairs of Jeollanam-do ▲Ko Kwang-wan, Deputy Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City ▲Woo Beom-gi, Mayor of Jeonju, as well as members of the National Assembly including ▲Jeong Un-cheon (proportional representative) from the People Power Party ▲Kim Sung-joo (Jeonju-si Byeong, Jeonbuk) from the Democratic Party ▲Yang Kyung-sook (proportional representative) from the Democratic Party attended.

The attendees held a drum-beating ceremony to mark the vigorous start of small businesses in the Year of the Gapjin (2024) and prayed for innovation and growth of small businesses and the leap forward of South Korea's economy.

In his New Year's address, Kbiz Chairman Kim Ki-moon said, "Last year, our entrepreneurs went through a long tunnel of COVID-19, but the global economy remained stagnant, causing many difficulties. However, the government has implemented economic policies such as regulatory innovation and export support that meet the needs of the field, giving entrepreneurs the strength to move forward again."

He continued, "If the newly launched Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province on January 18 and small businesses unite and innovate together, competitiveness will be strengthened throughout the industrial ecosystem. Kbiz will also do its best to resolve the manpower shortage, which is the biggest difficulty for small businesses in the Honam region," he emphasized.