Selected as Win-Win Regional Jobs in Hoengseong and Miryang... Fostering Electric Vehicle and Root SMEs

Investment of 233.6 Billion Won... Expected Creation of 748 New Jobs
Hoengseong Electric Vehicle Cooperative, Milyang Eco-friendly and Smart Industrial Complex Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] A second labor-management win-win regional job creation model is being promoted in Hoengseong, Gangwon Province, and Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 20th that it held the 2nd Win-win Regional Job Deliberation Committee and selected 'Gangwon Hoengseong-type Jobs' and 'Gyeongnam Miryang-type Jobs' as win-win regional jobs.

Win-win regional jobs are projects that create sustainable quality local jobs based on grand compromises among labor, management, civil society, and government. Once officially designated, they receive benefits such as tax incentives and investment subsidies from the government and local governments.

Earlier, the government announced the 'Plan to Expand Win-win Regional Job Models' in February last year, then amended the 'Special Act on National Balanced Development' in April to establish the legal basis for selecting and supporting win-win regional jobs. Subsequently, in June, the 'Gwangju-type Jobs' was selected as the first win-win regional job model.

Electric Vehicle SME Cooperative... Creating Jobs for Ultra-Compact Electric Cargo Vehicles

Aerial view of Woochun Industrial Complex in Hoengseong, Gangwon. (Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy)

The Hoengseong-type Jobs plan involves seven electric vehicle SMEs, including DPico, forming a cooperative and investing 74.2 billion KRW (59 billion KRW within the 3-year evaluation period) and employing 503 people to manufacture ultra-compact electric cargo vehicles.

A distinctive feature is that the finished vehicle companies and partner companies within the cooperative share excess profits and jointly utilize logistics and sales networks to reduce costs. They guarantee more than 5% operating profit for partner companies and redistribute the excess profit exceeding 5% of DPico, the largest of the seven companies.

They agreed on guaranteeing appropriate wages and a job-centered wage system, and Gangwon Province plans to provide incentives to workers and companies through support such as improving residential conditions and establishing a business environment.

A Gangwon Province official explained, "The project will start with an average annual salary range of about 23.2 million to 34.8 million KRW, which is within 20% of the base salary of 29 million KRW for new workers, and plans to establish a 'same rank, same wage' system."

From 3D Companies to Eco-friendly and Smart Enterprises... Creating a 2 Billion KRW Resident Win-win Fund

Aerial view of Hanam Industrial Complex in Miryang, Gyeongnam. (Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy)

The Miryang-type Jobs involve eight companies, including HanHwang Industry, investing a total of 159.4 billion KRW and newly employing 245 people by creating an eco-friendly and smart root industry complex (Hanam Industrial Complex).

The Hanam Industrial Complex has many so-called '3D companies,' and the plan is to transform these companies into eco-friendly and smart enterprises (ACE: Automatic, Clean, Easy).

A Gyeongnam Province official said, "Most root industry companies rely on manual labor, but recently, plans to advance the industry through smart factory construction are underway. We are consulting with the Ministry of Industry on support programs such as applying robots to various processes of root companies, and through this process, a foundation will be established to convert root companies into ACE companies."

Resident companies induced support and cooperation from nearby residents by creating a resident win-win fund of 1.5 to 2 billion KRW and mandating environmental facilities.

They also committed to implementing fair trade and co-prosperity through compliance with the delivery price linkage system between primary and subcontractors (reflecting raw material price changes in delivery prices), guaranteeing and expanding delivery volumes.

Minister of Industry Sung Yun-mo evaluated, "The win-win regional jobs in the two areas present a new win-win model where SMEs with limited investment capacity organically gather to make large-scale investments and create synergy through joint projects."

Minister Sung explained, "The Hoengseong-type Jobs foster a new industry by creating an ultra-compact electric cargo vehicle ecosystem centered on SMEs and strengthen co-prosperity among companies through profit sharing."

He added, "The Miryang-type Jobs transform root companies suffering from dual difficulties of location and manpower shortages into ACE companies to enhance industrial competitiveness and promote co-prosperity between companies and residents."

The Ministry of Industry announced that it will continue efforts to expand win-win regional jobs nationwide through active support for the selected regions, nationwide touring briefings to discover new win-win models, and customized consulting.

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