Small and Medium Business Conference Again in Yongsan This Year... "Supporting Challenges in the Global Market"

2024 Korea Small Business Entrepreneurs Conference Held
Government, Large Corporations, and Overseas Korean Businesses as 'One Team'
Supporting Globalization of Small Businesses

The 35th edition of the largest festival in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector, the 'SME Entrepreneurs Convention,' was held for the third consecutive year on the lawn of the Yongsan Presidential Office. This event aims to encourage SME and venture entrepreneurs who are key players in expanding exports and creating jobs. The government expressed its commitment to supporting the global expansion of SMEs through public-private cooperation under the 'Global One Team' initiative, alongside awarding meritorious contributors.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Federation of SMEs held the 2024 Korea SME Entrepreneurs Convention on the lawn in front of the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 23rd, under the slogan "With SMEs to the World! To the Future!" Since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, the SME Entrepreneurs Convention has been held three times consecutively at the Presidential Office lawn. This signifies the start of continuous communication with SMEs and the formation of a public-private one team to support the globalization of SMEs.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is participating in the 'Global One Team Departure Ceremony' performance with attendees at the '2024 Korea Small and Medium Business Conference' held on the lawn of the Yongsan Presidential Office in Seoul on the 23rd. (Photo by Yonhap News)

The convention was attended by about 500 people from across the country, including President Yoon Suk-yeol, ministers from 11 government departments, heads of six major conglomerates, related SME organizations, and export SMEs. Notably, for the first time in the convention's history, ambassadors from 12 countries with active trade and foreign workforce exchanges with Korean SMEs participated, providing an opportunity for communication with export SMEs.

President Yoon, the ministers of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kim Ki-moon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, heads of major conglomerates, overseas Korean community organizations, and SME entrepreneurs jointly performed a ceremony to launch the 'Global One Team' ship, reaffirming their commitment to actively support the global expansion of SMEs as a united public-private team.

A total of 92 government awards were presented to SME entrepreneurs, workers, and outstanding organizations that contributed to export expansion and the creation of quality jobs. The prestigious Gold Tower Industrial Order of Merit was awarded to Choi Geum-sik, CEO of Sunbo Industry, and Kim Jeong-hee, CEO of HNS Hightech.

CEO Choi introduced the world's first ship module unit concept, contributing to revolutionary productivity improvements in the shipbuilding industry through process simplification. He also secured competitiveness in the LNG gas fuel supply system sector, contributing to industrial development. His contributions to supporting educationally disadvantaged groups domestically and abroad, including establishing schools in impoverished countries and promoting scholarship programs for low-income families in Korea, were also recognized.

HNS Hightech is the number one domestic and third-largest global company in the anisotropic conductive film (ACF) industry for displays. Through continuous research and development and facility expansion, the company has worked on the localization of materials, parts, and equipment businesses and the development of overseas markets. CEO Kim also actively engaged in donation activities for socially vulnerable groups, including families with disabilities.

Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "We are establishing a support system that links and collaborates domestic and international support organizations to assist the global expansion of SMEs and startups," adding, "We will provide customized solutions to various difficulties SMEs face during their global expansion process."

Kim Ki-moon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, emphasized, "Public and private sectors must unite as one team to support the overseas expansion of SMEs, and SMEs must also transform into specialized companies competing in the global market beyond domestic demand."