Cement Industry Accelerates Fundraising to Support Factory Area Residents

7 Cement Companies Establish 25 Billion KRW Fund

Panoramic view of Hanil Cement Danyang Plant. [Photo by Hanil Cement]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] The cement industry is accelerating the establishment of funds to support residents in areas surrounding cement factories.

The Korea Cement Association announced on the 27th that residents around cement production plants in the Gangwon and Chungbuk regions are participating to prepare plans for the formation and operation of regional fund management committees, and consultations with individual companies are underway.

In February, the cement industry signed a "Voluntary Fundraising Agreement by the Cement Industry to Expand Social Contribution" worth 25 billion KRW with members of the National Assembly from the areas where production plants are located. This committee was established as a follow-up measure to the agreement to dispel doubts about the effectiveness of direct support from the cement industry raised by some and to practice coexistence with local communities.

Before forming the fund management committee, the cement industry is undergoing objective certification of the scale of social contributions through the designated donation organization, the Korea Productivity Center (KPC), and is reviewing the direction of advance funding (fund account opening plan) for prompt fund support before the committee's launch.

Accordingly, after confirming the community fund performance from January to August this year, the remaining funds will be calculated for each company and deposited into the Korea Productivity Center's fund account (designated donation processing), and transparency and objectivity will be certified, with a plan to sign a business agreement by November.

Donghae region (Ssangyong C&E) is already scheduled to hold the fund management committee inauguration ceremony on September 8. The remaining six companies (Sampyo Cement, Hanil Cement, Hanil Hyundai Cement, Asia Cement, Sungshin Cement, and Halla Cement) are also in progress.

Jung Hae-bung, Executive Director of the Cement Association, said, "Although it may take some time, we intend to fully reflect the voices of various sectors of the local community in resident and local government coexistence cooperation programs," adding, "We will also spare no support for the stable operation of the fund management committee and various support for the local community."

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