Kim Ki-moon: "Local Governments Strengthen Support Base for Medium-term Cooperatives"... Consecutive Ordinance Enactments

Kim Ki-moon, President of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Korea Federation of SMEs announced on the 19th that local governments are making efforts to establish support systems for fostering small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) cooperatives through ordinance enactment and activation plan formulation.

The starting point for the enactment of SME cooperative ordinances was Chungbuk Province. In August last year, the "Chungbuk SME Cooperative Fostering and Support Ordinance" was enacted. The enactment of local government ordinances for SME cooperatives is the first in 58 years since the enactment of the Small and Medium Enterprise Cooperative Act in 1961. Since then, based on this milestone, ordinances have been confirmed in 15 metropolitan local governments nationwide, including Gwangju, Daegu, Seoul, and Gangwon.

Following metropolitan local governments last year, this year ordinances are being enacted in basic local governments where SME cooperatives are concentrated, such as industrial complexes, traditional markets, and shopping districts. On the 8th, Yeosu City in Jeollanam-do became the first basic local government to establish an ordinance for fostering and supporting SME cooperatives.

Additionally, on the 1st, Busan City established the "Busan City 1st SME Cooperative Activation 3-Year Plan" based on the ordinance. This is also the first time in the history of SME cooperatives that an activation plan has been formulated at the local government level rather than by the central government. This plan includes 14 new support projects needed on the ground, such as ▲establishment of SME collaboration promotion centers ▲support for transactions between SME cooperatives ▲operation of consulting support groups.

On the 8th, following Busan, Jeju Province became the second nationwide to establish an SME cooperative activation plan, and other local governments are currently pursuing similar initiatives.

Kim Gi-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, stated, "Based on the achievements so far, we plan to promote expansion to other local governments to solidify the support foundation for SME cooperatives at the local government level. As support for SME cooperative activation expands nationwide, if the cooperatives themselves add voluntary efforts and will for innovative growth and strengthened collaboration, it is expected to be an opportunity for a new leap forward."

Chairman Kim also emphasized, "If local government ordinances are the 'seeds,' the support projects prepared based on them are like the 'fruits.' SME cooperatives will grow by utilizing various support projects from local governments, which are the fruits, and will promote the fostering of local SMEs and small business owners, create local jobs, and contribute to the local community."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.