Meeting with CEOs of SMEs
□ Bank of Korea Governor KIM Choongsoo held a meeting with CEOs of major small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 7:30 a.m. until 9:20 a.m. on Wednesday, March 30.
ㅇ Participants
KIM, Sang-Bok, President of Doowon Cable Co., Ltd, PARK, Yoon-Ky, CEO of Solacia Inc.,
PARK, Inchul, Chairman of Daeki Corporation,
YANG, Seok-Mo, CEO of Dongsung Highchem. Co., Ltd, CHUNG, Yun-Hyun, CEO of Poonglim Foods Co., Ltd, HWANG, Gwang Ho, CEO of SunglimPS Co., Ltd,
HWANG, Eulmoon, CEO of SeouLin Bioscience Co., Ltd.
□ The Bank of Korea (BOK) has been strengthening its communication efforts with economic agents in order to boost the effectiveness of monetary and credit policy.
In this connection, the BOK has been holding quarterly meetings with CEOs* in a bid to gather anecdotal information from industry representatives.
* Meetings with CEOs were held twice last year (with the CEOs of SMEs on September 10 and those of large corporations on November 17).
Major Points Discussed
Bank of Korea Governor KIM Choongsoo and the CEOs of the major SMEs exchanged a wide range of views on recent domestic and external economic developments and pending issues for SMEs.
The participants, while identifying with the point that the domestic economy has kept its uptrend going, commented to the effect that the run-up in international commodity prices including those of oil were acting as a burden on SMEs.
ㅇ An opinion was voiced in this regard that it is necessary for the public sector including the Bank of Korea to provide information related to changes in economic conditions abroad, since SMEs find it hard to properly grasp the influences of recent events such as the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, and the massive earthquake in Japan due to their limited human resources.
ㅇ Furthermore, it was also pointed out that, in order to respond to the sluggish local construction business, small and medium-sized construction companies need to actively seek entry into overseas markets, and that support in terms of finance must be strengthened to this end.
With regard to SME support, a remark was made that enabling startup SMEs to quickly take roots is important.
ㅇ There was also the view that, in order for SMEs to evolve into medium-sized firms and eventually into large corporations, assistance specific to each development stage should be provided.
Regarding the future growth path of SMEs, all of the participants agreed to the need for SMEs holding original technology to grow into solid SMEs competitive on a global scale by extending their business abroad, as well as for large corporations and SMEs to achieve shared growth.
In conclusion, the Governor stressed that, what is required along with policy considerations for SMEs, is for themselves to enhance their competitiveness.
