Kim Hak-do, Chairman of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, Marks 100th Site Visit Since Inauguration

Since Taking Office, Weekly On-Site Visits... Averaging 3 Visits per Location Across 33 Regional Headquarters and Branches

Chairman Kim Hak-do (right) is visiting Geoyang Metal for the 100th time since his inauguration on the 23rd to listen to the difficulties on site.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Small and Medium Business Corporation (hereinafter referred to as SBC) announced that Chairman Kim Hak-do visited the Geoyang Metal plant located in the Daegu National Industrial Complex on the 23rd as his 100th field visit since taking office, to review the performance of the structural innovation support project in the future car transition sector and held a meeting with business owners.

Chairman Kim visited an auto parts company located in Gimhae, Gyeongnam, on his first day in office on May 19, 2020. Since then, over the past two years, he has directly visited 100 sites to identify difficulties faced by small and medium enterprises and reflect them in policies. This means that on average, he visited each of the 33 regional headquarters and branches operated by SBC more than three times.

This year, SBC is promoting a structural innovation support project to help small and medium enterprises successfully transition to new businesses in response to changes in the industrial environment such as digitalization and carbon neutrality. In particular, in the Daegu region, SBC is cooperating with local governments and related organizations to support internal combustion engine auto parts companies in transitioning to future car sectors such as electric and hydrogen vehicles. Prior to the meeting, SBC appointed 63 structural innovation policy managers to strengthen follow-up management and policy linkage of the structural innovation support project, and awarded appointment certificates to 10 managers in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions.

Chairman Kim said, "SBC has conducted 740 structural innovation response level diagnoses and 1,019 customized consultations this year," adding, "This meeting was organized to improve support systems by identifying difficulties faced by companies transitioning to future cars and sharing excellent cases of structural innovation consulting."

At the meeting, small and medium entrepreneurs seeking future car transition in the Daegu region attended. They voiced field concerns including ▲ manpower supply issues such as foreign workers ▲ production difficulties due to the 52-hour workweek system ▲ increased financial burden due to rising loan interest rates ▲ non-reflection of raw material price increases in delivery prices ▲ and the need to share information on government support projects related to future cars.

Chairman Kim said, "We will continue on-site communication to implement policies that customers want and can feel at the forefront of small and medium enterprises," and added, "We will actively review opinions to support small and medium enterprises in overcoming the complex '3-high' crisis of automotive industry recession, high exchange rates, high interest rates, and high inflation, and to grow as key players in the future car transition."

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