POSCO E&C, SK Geocentric, and CJ CheilJedang Newly Selected as 'Top Honorary Companies' for Win-Win Growth

30 Companies Awarded Best in 'Win-Win Growth' for 3 Consecutive Years

Forty-four outstanding companies that have led Korea's shared growth by promoting fair trade relationships and cooperation between large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been selected. POSCO E&C, SK Geocentric, and CJ CheilJedang were newly named 'Outstanding Honorary Companies' after receiving the highest grade for three consecutive years since 2021. The total number of Outstanding Honorary Companies that have received the highest grade for three or more consecutive years has reached 30.

On the 8th, the Shared Growth Committee held its 80th meeting at the JW Marriott Hotel Seoul in Seocho-gu, Seoul, and announced the results of the '2023 Shared Growth Index Evaluation' for 224 large and medium-sized companies. This evaluation combined the Shared Growth Committee’s ‘Comprehensive Shared Growth Evaluation’ and the Fair Trade Commission’s ‘Fair Trade Agreement Compliance Evaluation’ at an equal ratio and announced the results in four grades: 'Outstanding', 'Excellent', 'Good', and 'Average'.

Chairman Idal-gon is delivering a greeting at the 80th Win-Win Growth Committee held on the 8th at JW Marriott Hotel Seoul in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

According to the 2023 Shared Growth Index evaluation results, 44 companies were rated Outstanding, 65 Excellent, 69 Good, and 32 Average. Eight companies were rated Inadequate, and six companies had their publication deferred. Lotte Construction, BGF Retail, and SK Siltron achieved the Outstanding grade for the first time since participating in the evaluation. The government plans to provide incentives at the government level to companies rated Outstanding or Excellent. These include exemption from the Fair Trade Commission’s ex officio investigations, exemption from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ consignment transaction surveys, and additional points in the Public Procurement Service’s pre-qualification screening for public bids.

Since the Shared Growth Index evaluation began in 2011, 30 companies have been named Outstanding Honorary Companies by receiving the Outstanding grade for three or more consecutive years. POSCO E&C, SK Geocentric, and CJ CheilJedang were newly selected as ‘Outstanding Honorary Companies’ this time. Among the Outstanding Honorary Companies, Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, Kia, Hyundai Transys, KT, and SK Corporation have maintained the Outstanding grade for over 10 years, leading Korea’s shared growth.

In this evaluation, the ‘Performance Evaluation’ score, which assesses shared growth activities based on 17 indicators, significantly increased compared to the previous year. Notably, medium-sized companies showed remarkable score improvements, indicating that the culture of shared growth is spreading across industries beyond company size. To enhance the fairness and public trust of the Shared Growth Index evaluation, the Shared Growth Committee applied penalties such as point deductions to companies involved in legal violations against shared growth or those causing social controversies. Six companies, including five under review for violations of the Subcontracting Act, Large-scale Distribution Business Act, and Franchise Business Act, and one company prosecuted under the mandatory reporting system, had their publication deferred and will be announced later reflecting court rulings. Additionally, eight companies that did not participate in the Fair Trade Commission’s agreement compliance evaluation or failed to submit partner company lists for the Shared Growth Committee’s perception survey were rated Inadequate according to regulations. These include Daebang Construction, Denso Korea, Mobase Electronics, Estra Automotive Systems, Iljin Global, Jeil Construction, Tyco AMP, and Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle.

The Shared Growth Committee plans to listen to voices from the government and industry in the second half of this year and review the revision of the 17 Shared Growth Index indicators. Chairman Lee Dal-gon of the Shared Growth Committee stated, "The Shared Growth Index should well reflect social issues and domestic and international business conditions," adding, "To revitalize the domestic market, it is necessary to increase the score weight for purchases of Onnuri gift certificates to encourage corporate participation."

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