11 Samsung Affiliates Sign Fair Trade Agreement with 5,530 Partner Companies

Activities to Secure Partner Competitiveness and Build a Sustainable Win-Win Cooperation Ecosystem Conducted

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Eleven Samsung Group affiliates practicing 'win-win management' have signed a fair trade agreement with 5,330 first-, second-, and third-tier partner companies.

On the 28th, Samsung held the 'Samsung-Partner Companies Fair Trade Agreement Ceremony' at Samsung Digital City located in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The Samsung affiliates signing the fair trade agreement this time include Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDI, Samsung SDS, Samsung C&T (Construction & Fashion), Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung Engineering, Cheil Worldwide, Hotel Shilla, and Semes, totaling 11 companies.

Due to social distancing guidelines amid the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the number of attendees was limited. About 20 people attended, including Fair Trade Commission Chairman Cho Seung-wook, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam, Samsung Electronics President Choi Yoon-ho, Samsung Display President Lee Dong-hoon, Samsung Electro-Mechanics President Kyung Kye-hyun, and Kim Young-jae, CEO of Daeduck Electronics and chairman of the Samsung Electronics Partner Companies Council.

Through this agreement, Samsung has laid the foundation for establishing a culture of fair trade and expanding win-win growth activities to third-tier partner companies. Under the uncertain management environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Samsung and its partner companies plan to work together to enhance competitiveness and create a mutually beneficial industrial ecosystem.

Since 2011, Samsung has signed agreements with first-tier partner companies and between first- and second-tier partner companies. Since 2018, the scope has expanded to include agreements between second- and third-tier partner companies.

◆ Samsung Electronics' 'Super Gap' in Strengthening Partner Companies' Competitiveness... Support in Three Key Areas: Funding, Technology, and Human Resources

Samsung Electronics established the first dedicated organization for partner companies in 2004, the first among domestic companies, to improve the management environment and strengthen competitiveness through win-win cooperation activities. Samsung Electronics focuses on supporting partner companies in three key areas to enhance their competitiveness: ▲funding support ▲technology and manufacturing innovation ▲human resource development.

First, since 2005, Samsung Electronics has paid the full amount of goods payments in cash to small and medium-sized partner companies. Since 2017, it has created a 500 billion KRW fund to support interest-free loans, enabling first-tier partner companies to pay second-tier partner companies in cash within 30 days.

Regarding the stabilization of partner companies' management, since 2010, Samsung Electronics has established a 1 trillion KRW win-win fund to provide low-interest loans for necessary expenses such as facility investment and technology development. In 2018, the funding support program, which had been operated mainly for first- and second-tier partner companies, was expanded to third-tier partner companies, and exclusive funds for third-tier partner companies (win-win fund and goods payment support fund) were additionally created and operated.

To discover future growth engines for partner companies, since 2009, Samsung Electronics has held 'Excellent Technology Briefings' introducing outstanding technologies possessed by domestic universities and research institutes. Since 2015, Samsung Electronics has opened 27,000 patents free of charge, allowing not only partner companies but also non-affiliated small and venture companies to utilize them anytime for commercialization or technology development through free patent transfers. About 100 Samsung Electronics employees with over 20 years of expertise in management, manufacturing, development, and quality are deployed to partner companies' manufacturing sites to provide customized management consulting and technical guidance in weak areas.

Samsung Electronics actively supports partner companies' talent development as well as financial and technical support. In 2013, it established and operates the 'Win-Win Cooperation Academy Education Center,' dedicated to partner companies' education. To strengthen the capabilities of partner company employees, it offers about 500 online and offline courses and provides the same level of education systems and content available to Samsung Electronics employees free of charge to partner company employees. To secure excellent personnel for partner companies and alleviate youth unemployment, Samsung Electronics has held the 'Samsung Partner Companies Recruitment Festival' since 2012.

◆ Creating a Sustainable Win-Win Cooperation Ecosystem... Samsung Electronics Completes Smart Factory Construction for 1,073 Companies Over Two Years

Samsung Electronics promotes comprehensive support activities that establish a sustainable growth system, including manufacturing site innovation, environmental safety improvements, manufacturing operation system establishment, market development, human resource development, and technology acquisition.

Since 2018, Samsung Electronics has developed the smart factory project, which began in 2015, into a comprehensive support activity tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises.

From 2018 to 2022, Samsung Electronics, together with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, has created a total of 100 billion KRW annually, totaling 1 trillion KRW, to support smart factory construction projects for small businesses. In particular, Samsung Electronics provides an additional 10 billion KRW to operate programs such as domestic and overseas buyer discovery, global promotion, and education programs, and about 200 Samsung Electronics manufacturing experts are deployed to support smart factory construction projects.

Samsung Electronics completed construction for 505 companies in 2018 and 566 companies in 2019. The previous smart factory support project started with 120 small and medium-sized enterprises in 2015, followed by 479 companies in 2016 and 487 companies in 2017, transferring Samsung Electronics' manufacturing know-how to a total of 1,086 companies over three years.

Under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) vision 'Together to the Future! Enabling People,' Samsung Electronics carries out win-win activities such as partner company win-win funds, smart factories, C-Lab Outside, and Samsung Future Technology Development Projects, as well as youth education and social contribution activities.

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