Dignitaries, including Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon and Chairman Park Sung-taek, toast at a New Year’s gathering of SME businessmen at the KBIZ Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on Jan. 10.

Chairman Park Sung-taek, gives a speech at a New Year’s gathering of SME businessmen (Photos:KBIZ)

Chairman Park Sung-taek of the Korea Federation of SMEs (Kbiz) said he will push for organizational reform in the coming year.

During his media briefing session on Dec. 19 at a restaurant in Yeouido, Seoul, Park said the business environment for Kbiz won’t be as good in 2018, with the minimum wage likely to be increased and excessive working hours reduced. He will take measures to prepare Kbiz for any scenario, starting with an all-out internal reform.

The chairman plans to decentralize the small business federation by giving more power to regional heads across the country. Also, the vice chairman will start sharing power with the chairman as the second in command at the federation. 

He will limit the chairman to serve only two consecutive terms. Park will introduce a regular audit of the federation’s finances by an accounting firm to be designated later for the specific purpose to make the federation more transparent.

He also lined up a number of tasks to be taken care of by the federation in 2018, including the Korea Development Bank exclusively providing loans to SMEs; the Ministry of SMEs setting up a unit exclusively for handling Kbiz; having the Fair Trade Commission name someone who is an expert on SME affairs as a permanent member; expanding the industries that should adhere to the new minimum wage; and clarifying the regular salary breakdown.

The Kbiz chairman thinks that at least 4,000 new SMEs should implement “smart” factories per year to achieve the target of helping 20,000 SMEs turn their plants into smart plants within five years. He thinks full government support is needed to achieve the project.

Small- and medium-sized business are the root of Korea’s economy. They accounts for 99% of the number of enterprises and 88% of the number of employees.  They play a pivotal role in the national economy.

Until now, Korean SMEs improved their competitiveness and cultivated overseas markets through technology development and management innovation. As a result, they established the foundation for Korea to become the world’s ninth-largest trading nation with a trading volume of $1 trillion.

Kbiz was established in 1962 under the objective of improving the economic status and supporting equal opportunities for SMEs. 

“We have actively dealt with the rapidly changing global economy through making proposals on governmental policies and seeking various systems, while also providing support so that SMEs can enhance competitiveness,” according to the organization. “Also, we supported overseas marketing through participating in foreign exhibitions for SMEs, dispatching overseas business delegations, and providing information concerning FTA.”  About 30 institutions from 17 countries signed cooperation agreement with Kbiz, and it has worked aggressively to help SMEs enter overseas markets through various cooperation projects.

Kbiz developed and provided field-oriented policies and services based on creativity, passion, and accumulated experience on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 2012. Through this, Kbiz strives to improve the global competitiveness of Korean SMEs and ensure SMEs can do business activities in a better environment.