Communication Meeting between Chairman Kim Kyungsoo of the Local Era Committee and SME Business Leaders
Proposals Include Expanding the Scope of Companies Recognized as Reshoring Firms
The small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector met with Kim Kyungsoo, chairman of the Local Era Committee, and asked for strong support for fostering local SMEs.
Kim Kimoon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs (left), and Kim Kyungsoo, chairman of the Local Era Committee, met at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and posed for a commemorative photo. Korea Federation of SMEs
On the 25th, the Korea Federation of SMEs announced that it held a "Communication Meeting between Chairman Kim Kyungsoo of the Local Era Committee and SME Business Leaders" at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
This meeting was organized to discuss the growth of local SMEs and related issues as the government is currently pursuing a strategy of local-led growth. From the Local Era Committee, participants included Chairman Kim Kyungsoo and Cho Unghwan, Director General of the Five Growth Axes and Three Special Zones Policy Bureau. From the SME sector, participants included Chairman Kim Kimoon; Lee Hanwook, Chairman of the Korea New Technology Business Cooperative (Gyeongnam); Lim Kyungjun, Chairman of the Gwangju-Jeonnam Asphalt Concrete Industry Cooperative (Jeonnam); and Hwang Hyunbae, Chairman of the Incheon Industrial Distribution Business Cooperative (Incheon), along with other SME representatives from local regions and the Seoul metropolitan area.
At the meeting, the SME sector proposed: ▲expanding the scope of companies eligible to be recognized as reshoring companies ▲supporting business conversion for traditional local manufacturing SMEs ▲and fostering talent tailored to regional strategic industries through theory-practice-on-site training programs.
Chairman Kim stressed, "Some 63.4% of SMEs located outside the Seoul metropolitan area feel a significant gap in the business environment compared to the metropolitan area, and excessive concentration in the metropolitan area is leading to weakened national competitiveness, including low birth rates and a decline in potential growth." He added, "If our economy is to maintain its growth momentum, narrowing the gap between the metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas is more important than anything else."
He went on to say, "For local-led growth to succeed, the key is to create good jobs in local regions," and added, "Along with attracting anchor companies, we need to build an industrial ecosystem in which SMEs can grow evenly, promote innovation in traditional local manufacturing industries through business conversion and AI transformation (AX), and support policies such as shifting industrial complex business-type regulations to a negative-list system."
Chairman Kim said, "We will actively promote SME-tailored support policies, including expanding SME participation in the growth-engine industries of the five growth axes and three special zones, as well as talent development and financial support," and added, "By expanding the scope of reshoring, supporting business conversion through the spread of artificial intelligence (AI), and supporting the development of practical talent, we will improve the business environment for local SMEs and lay the foundation for their growth." He continued, "We will actively support SMEs so that they can play a central role in the process of achieving balanced growth between local regions and the central area."
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