Minister Kwon Chil-seung to Hold 'SoBuJang' Meeting... Visits Everkemtec Production Site

Visit to Everkemtec on the 24th... Development of Core Materials for Food Packaging
"A Model Case of Technological Independence... Want to Hear Vivid Voices from the Field"

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is holding a meeting with executives and employees during his visit to SmartStudy in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 18th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Minister Kwon Chil-seung will hold a meeting on the 24th with the chairpersons of the '100 Strong Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Materials, Parts, and Equipment (SoBuJang)' council and six company representatives at Everkemtec located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

The 100 Strong SMEs in SoBuJang project is a government initiative launched in 2019 to respond to Japan's export restrictions by focusing on nurturing 100 promising SMEs in the materials, parts, and equipment sector. This meeting marks Minister Kwon Chil-seung's first visit to a strong SME site since his appointment. According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the meeting was arranged to communicate directly with the field, strengthen the competitiveness of the SoBuJang enterprise ecosystem, and reflect any difficulties in policy.

Everkemtec, which Minister Kwon will visit, is a company that succeeded in developing a core material for food packaging that was previously entirely imported from Japan. Everkemtec developed the core material NEXRIER through years of collaboration with related organizations such as the National Food Cluster. Despite COVID-19, the company’s sales and number of employees increased by 15% and 40%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Minister Kwon said, “(Everkemtec) is a model case of technological independence by developing a core material for food packaging through continuous research and development even after being selected as a strong SME,” adding, “I wanted to understand how much the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ support measures are actually helping on the ground and hear the vivid voices of the stakeholders.”

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