SME Ombudsman Holds Focused Discussion on 'Shipbuilding and Food Industries' with Honam Region Companies

Shipbuilding Industry Raises Workforce Challenges
In Jeonbuk, Requests Related to Iksan National Food Cluster

The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman met with shipbuilding and food sector companies in the Honam region to listen to their difficulties and began consultations with relevant departments.

The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman, together with the Small and Medium Business Corporation, announced that they held the 'Honam Region S.O.S Talk Meeting' over two days from the 29th to the 30th in Gwangju, Jeonnam, and Jeonbuk.

The meeting held the previous day took place at the Pyeongdong Comprehensive Business Center in Gwangju and targeted small and medium enterprises in the Gwangju and Jeonnam areas. During the event, workforce-related difficulties in the shipbuilding industry were intensively raised.

Company A, which manufactures eco-friendly ship components, requested an expansion of the allocation of foreign workers to alleviate the manpower shortage in the shipbuilding industry. Currently, E-9 visas for simple labor sectors such as manufacturing are issued to 165,000 people, but only about 3%, or 5,000, are allocated to the shipbuilding industry. The shipbuilding sector is appealing that the number of allocated foreign workers is excessively low compared to their dependence on foreign labor.

The Ombudsman explained that they have conveyed these difficulties to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the relevant department, and will continue consultations. The Ministry of Employment and Labor responded that they will proceed after reviewing through monitoring related agencies and stakeholders.

Additionally, there was a proposal to include fishery by-products, expected to generate high added value, as recyclable materials. An industry official said, "Fishery by-products are not included as recyclable materials, so the related industry has not developed. In Japan, fishery by-products are classified as food circular resources, and Iceland reuses more than 80% of fishery products." In response, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries stated that they will proceed after consultation and discussion with the Ministry of Environment.

On the 30th, a meeting was held at the Jeonbuk Regional Headquarters meeting room of the Small and Medium Business Corporation in Wanju-gun, Jeonbuk. At this meeting, there was a request to include pet food as a possible industry for entry into the Iksan National Food Cluster. Support is needed for the growth of the pet food industry, a new food sector. Currently, the industries allowed to enter are limited to food and beverage manufacturing.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs responded that they would consider allowing the pet food industry to enter. They plan to review the promotion by collecting opinions from existing food industry cluster tenants, the food industry, and consumers.

In addition, small and medium enterprises in the agricultural life and food sectors proposed ▲expanding the certification scope of traditional liquor using local specialties ▲extending the validity period of Food Safety Management Certification (HACCP) ▲expanding the target companies for health functional food traceability management.

Kim Hee-sun, head of the Ombudsman support team, said, "We will properly convey the difficulties and proposals of small and medium enterprises in the region's key industries to the relevant administrative agencies," and added, "We will continue consultations to derive constructive improvement measures."

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