The small and medium-sized business community met with People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and proposed measures to strengthen SME competitiveness, including the U.S. tariff issue.
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises said it held a "meeting with SME leaders invited by People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok" at its Yeouido headquarters on the afternoon of the 22nd.
Attending the meeting were People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and Policy Committee Chair Kim Do-eup, as well as Finance and Economy Committee Chair Lim Lee-ja, Trade, Industry, SMEs and Startups Committee Chair Lee Cheol-gyu, committee secretary Park Seong-min, chief spokesperson Park Seong-hoon, and lawmaker Park Jun-tae.
From the SME side, more than 30 leaders attended, including Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises Chairman Kim Ki-moon, Senior Vice Chairs Kwon Hyuk-hong and Bae Jo-ung, Mechanical Equipment Construction Association President Jo In-ho, Korean Women Entrepreneurs Association President Park Chang-suk, and Korea Venture Capital Association President Kim Hak-kyun, along with the chairs of SME cooperatives by industry.
At the meeting, SME group leaders proposed 10 pending tasks to strengthen SME competitiveness. To bolster trade and SME growth drivers, they called for responses to trade issues such as high tariffs, the introduction of a fund to revitalize the KOSDAQ market, and the fostering of global women-led venture role models and the femtech industry. The femtech industry refers to technologies and services focused on improving women's health and quality of life.
To create a fair-trade environment, participants argued for introducing the right for SME cooperatives to request consultations and for supplementing systems to ensure SMEs receive fair prices. They also proposed legislating the joint contract under the prime contractor management method.
Currently, the structure of public procurement contracts generally operates with large corporations winning the prime contracts and SMEs participating as subcontractors. The SME community says that in this process, low pricing, unfair contract terms, and technological dependency are repeated, undermining SMEs' profitability and autonomy.
To resolve this issue, a "joint contract under the prime contractor management method," in which SMEs directly sign contracts with the ordering agencies and jointly carry out projects with other SMEs, is emerging as an alternative. At present, due to insufficient legal grounds, it is operated only as a pilot program.
In addition, to address labor issues, opinions were raised calling for business owners' defensive rights in line with the implementation of the yellow envelop bill and for guaranteeing autonomy in continuing employment of older workers.
KBIZ Chairman Kim Ki-moon said, "With low birthrates and an aging population reducing the number of consumers, and with trade issues piling on, everyone from small business owners to export corporations is going through a tough time," and added, "We urge the ruling and opposition parties to work together to quickly pass livelihood-related bills."
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok said that day, "If the yellow envelop bill is implemented, corporations will have to fight for survival against illegal strikes instead of investing in the future, so complementary legislation is essential," and added, "The yellow envelop bill is the worst of bad laws, turning illegality into legality and responsibility into privilege."