Meeting with the Fair Trade Commission Chairman of the Small and Medium Business Sector: "Please Listen to the Voices from the Field on Unfair Trade"

Kim Ki-moon, President of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business.

The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (Kbiz) announced on the 23rd that it held a meeting with small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) representatives, inviting Han Ki-jung, Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), at the Kbiz headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul.

Chairman Han visited the Kbiz headquarters for the second consecutive year to listen to the on-site difficulties faced by the SME sector. The meeting was attended by 20 representatives from SME-related associations and cooperatives, including Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of Kbiz; Jo In-ho, Chairman of the Korea Association of Equipment Construction; Lee Jeong-han, Chairwoman of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association; Lim Byung-hoon, Chairman of the Innobiz Association; Seok Yong-chan, Chairman of the Korea Management Innovation SME Association; and Bae Jo-ung, Chairman of the Korea Ready-Mixed Concrete Industry Cooperative Federation.

The SME representatives at the meeting conveyed 20 vivid on-site difficulties related to unfair trade, including ▲early establishment and activation support for the delivery payment linkage system ▲improvement of unreasonable long-term contract practices ▲supplementing the exclusion of the application of the 'Fair Trade Act' to cooperative joint projects ▲granting the effect of suspension of the statute of limitations upon filing complaints with the FTC ▲institutionalization of collective bargaining rights for online platform tenants ▲support for SMEs affected by unfair trade using fines imposed for unfair trade, and requested the preparation of improvement measures.

Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of Kbiz, said, “With the revision of the Subcontracting Act, the delivery payment linkage system has been introduced, and the stringent mediation consultation requirements of Kbiz have been removed, creating a fair trading foundation to receive proper payment for deliveries. As the FTC has undergone an organizational restructuring separating policy and investigation functions for the first time in 42 years since its establishment, I hope the FTC will actively listen to the voices from the SME sector on unfair trade system improvements and promptly conduct investigations and remedies for damage relief.”

Chairman Han Ki-jung of the FTC stated, “When large corporations and SMEs enhance competitiveness together to pursue sustainable growth, productivity improves and they can survive even in harsh competitive conditions. The FTC will do its best to create a fair trading environment where SMEs can receive fair compensation for the costs and innovations they invest, through the establishment of the subcontract payment linkage system and eradication of technology theft.”

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