Kim Ki-hyun Meets SME Entrepreneurs: "We Will Create a Business-Friendly Environment and Jobs"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] "Although we are a minority party, we will do everything we can. We will strive to create an environment favorable to business so that companies can autonomously create jobs."

On the 13th, Kim Ki-hyun, floor leader of the People Power Party, visited the Small and Medium Business Administration in Yeouido and held a town hall meeting with small and medium-sized business owners and small merchants, making these remarks. Kim, along with key party officials, discussed major issues facing the SME sector.

At the meeting, the Small and Medium Business Administration presented a total of 29 proposals to Floor Leader Kim, including 9 on-site suggestions and 20 written recommendations aimed at revitalizing small and medium-sized enterprises and small merchants. These included ▲flexible working hours ▲fair payment for delivered goods ▲activation of SME succession ▲supplementary legislation on the Serious Accident Punishment Act ▲enactment of the Online Platform Fairness Act, among others.

One SME owner emphasized, "The increase in raw material costs is not properly reflected in the delivery prices, and even if the delivery prices are adjusted by chance, they are only applied to new orders, causing us to bear losses," adding, "We need to enhance the effectiveness of the delivery price adjustment negotiation system and consider introducing a delivery price linkage system."

A representative of an SME located in an industrial complex said, "The phenomenon of aging industrial complexes and the increase in business closures due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is severe," and added, "We need to lift restrictions on business types to attract various companies to industrial complexes and revitalize them."

Floor Leader Kim said, "Our party firmly believes that when SMEs do well, Korea does well, and the people are happy. We have consistently worked to create a business-friendly environment, but recently we have faced many difficulties. Due to the small number of lawmakers, we encounter various limitations that prevent us from pushing through our agenda."

He continued, "Although we are a minority party, we will do everything we can while raising public awareness. We will continue our efforts to create an environment favorable to business, where companies autonomously create jobs and the people can nurture hope, building a country where common sense prevails."

Kim Ki-moon, chairman of the Small and Medium Business Administration, said, "The 6.63 million SMEs are neither conservative nor progressive; they support parties that create and implement good policies for SMEs," and urged, "We hope that the proposals raised at the meeting will be reflected to create a 'business-friendly environment for SMEs' and a 'world where doing business is enjoyable.'"

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