K-water is establishing an “open water industry platform” to expand support to SMEs and reflect their demands. The move is in keeping with the government’s efforts to create jobs.
Under the platform, the corporation plans to create 12,000 jobs in the next five years by supporting SMEs’ development of items and the exploration of markets. The open water industry platform is an open industrial structure in which water management technologies and knowhow that K-water has accumulated for the past 50 years, and its facilities, are shared so that SMEs can utilize them freely and corporate demands on water are reflected immediately.
The plan calls for supporting water-related SMEs’ development of technologies, the offering of opportunities of certifying functions of products, and exploring their markets, among others. To this end, K-water plans to make public all technologies, as well as patents and other proprietary rights the corporation owns, and transfer to SMEs what they need. SMEs needing technology research will be supported by aT.
K-water business sites, including 11 dams and purification plants across the nation, will be opened as test-beds to certify SMEs’ product functions. K-water plans to certify SMEs’ prominent technologies and provide support to improve their production functions and brand image. In an effort to help SMEs explore markets, aT plans to expand the purchase of SMEs’ technology products, publicize certified brands and provide SMEs with opportunities to conduct joint overseas business projects. The open water business platform is expected to enable SMEs to develop new products and secure stable marketing routs, thus contributing to raising sales by an estimated 1.9 trillion won and creating about 12,000 jobs during the period between 2017 and 2021.
The establishment of the platform will likely create a virtuous cycle of water industry growth, leading to the development of SME technologies and the boosting of sales and job creation. In a related development, K-water hosted a workshop on the open water industry platform at the aT Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul on June 19 to help government, academia and company officials explore ways of promoting job creation and shared growth with SMEs.
During the forum, K-water signed an MOU with KEB Hana Bank to provide financial support to SMEs. KEB Hana Bank President Ham Young-joo said his bank plans to raise 8 billion won in a co-prosperity fund for SMEs, with K-water to provide support for corporate growth including offering loans, corporate inheritance, and business management. Prof. Lee Jung-hee, chairman of the Korean Association of Small Business Studies, gave a lecture on shared growth.
Meanwhile, in May K-water inaugurated a companywide task force to follow up on the government’s policies to create jobs, including the easing of youth job unemployment and changing of non-regular workers into regular employees.
K-water President Lee Hak-soo said, “We’ll provide support to serve the open water industry platform as a foothold for SMEs to grow and evolve on their own.”
K-water will spearhead initiatives to invigorate the water industry and create jobs through active collaboration with the government by implementing the open water industry platform, he added.
K-water President Lee Hak-soo and KEB Hana Bank President Ham Young-joo pose with others after they signed an MOU to provide financial support to SMEs. (Photos: K-water)
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