The Largest SME Event '2023 Leaders Forum' Opens... Kim Ki-moon "Many SME Issues Resolved"

Held in Jeju from 12th to 15th
Former President Lee Myung-bak's Keynote Speech and Minister Lee Young's Special Lecture from the Ministry of SMEs Draw Attention

Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, is giving a special lecture at the '2023 Leaders Forum' held at Lotte Hotel Jeju on the 12th.

"Since the launch of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and the gradual resolution of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) issues, we are truly feeling many changes."

Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, said this on the 12th at the '2023 Leaders Forum' held at Lotte Hotel Jeju. He stated, "The government has reflected almost all the requests from the SME sector." Ahead of the implementation of the delivery payment linkage system, a long-standing wish of the SME sector for 14 years, scheduled for October 4, Chairman Kim shared the achievements of institutional improvements made for SMEs at a gathering of SME representatives.

The '2023 Leaders Forum,' the largest festival for SMEs, opened at Lotte Hotel Jeju. Marking its 16th year since 2007, this year's forum brought together about 400 SME owners from various industries and regions nationwide. Over four days until the 15th, they are designing the role and commitment of SMEs for Korea's leap forward under the theme "SMEs Running Again, A Greater Republic of Korea."

Chairman Kim introduced that many long-standing issues raised by the SME sector were significantly reflected at the Regulatory Innovation Meeting presided over by President Yoon Seok-yeol. He explained, "Regarding the business succession system, the deduction limit was increased to 60 billion KRW last year, and if the installment payment period for gift tax is extended to 20 years in this regular National Assembly session, over 90% of SMEs will be able to smoothly succeed their businesses. Even second- and third-generation heirs of large conglomerates have asked for solutions to inheritance tax issues, which were difficult to resolve, but fortunately, the government accepted our proposals."

Chairman Kim also cited the shift to a negative regulation system in industrial complexes, which greatly expanded the types of businesses allowed to settle and enabled convenience facilities for workers, such as convenience stores, as a regulatory improvement achievement. He also introduced that the foreigner quota was significantly expanded to 120,000, and the employment limit for foreign workers doubled, which are results of efforts to improve the system.

At the opening ceremony held that day, attendees included Chairman Kim, Lee Myung-bak, the 17th President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Young, Minister of SMEs and Startups, and Kang Seok-hoon, Chairman of the Korea Development Bank.

Former President Lee Myung-bak and Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business (right), are entering the venue of the '2023 Leaders Forum' held at Lotte Hotel Jeju on the 12th.

Former President Lee delivered the keynote speech. Before he took the podium, Chairman Kim said, "The delivery payment linkage system, which will be implemented next month, was initiated by former President Lee. During his tenure, he presented the era-defining agenda of 'win-win growth,' and starting with the launch of the Win-Win Growth Committee, it has led to today's linkage system." Before delivering his keynote, former President Lee greeted SME owners individually with handshakes, and the venue erupted in a standing ovation.

Minister Lee Young gave a special lecture at the opening ceremony on the topic of 'Future SME and Startup Policies.' He raised key issues regarding achievements over the past year and core policy tasks to be undertaken. He promised to implement policies for SMEs, startups, and small merchants, including digital transformation, eradication of technology theft, revitalization of venture investment, fostering entrepreneurial small merchants, and creating global innovation zones.

Minister Lee emphasized that policy directions will be designed with the goal of SMEs and startups accounting for more than 50% of the Korean economy by 2027. As of 2019, the direct and indirect export value of Korean SMEs was $213.2 billion (approximately 283 trillion KRW), accounting for 39.3% of the total. In 2020, their sales amounted to 2,673 trillion KRW, representing 47.2%. The plan is to increase these shares to over 50% by 2027. Minister Lee said, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will soon announce a comprehensive plan on how to grow SMEs and startups by 2027. Through this, we will eliminate the prejudice that SMEs are numerous but small in scale and thus have minimal real economic impact."

Meanwhile, prior to the forum's opening ceremony, the Korea Federation of SMEs visited Angel's House and Jena Children's Center located in Seogwipo, Jeju, as part of its social contribution program and delivered sponsorship funds worth about 10 million KRW donated by the SME sector.

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