The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises said on the 27th that it held the second meeting of the "public-private consultative body to support corporate innovation." The meeting took place at INIST ST, a company specializing in active pharmaceutical ingredients, located in the Osong Bio Valley in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.
From the government, Koo Yun-cheol, deputy prime minister for the economy, Lee Hyeong-hoon, second vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Noh Yong-seok, first vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and Oh Yu-Kyoung, head of the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety, attended. From the private sector, Kim Ki-moon, head of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises, Jeong Tae-hee, chair of external cooperation at the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KORCHAM), Park Chang-suk, head of the Korean Women Entrepreneurs Association, Kim Myeong-jin, head of the Korea Association of Small & Medium Business Innovation (KOSA), and about 20 representatives from small and medium-sized corporations in the central region in fields such as bio, semiconductor equipment, and defense took part.
As the first item after the kickoff meeting of the public-private consultative body held in Seoul on Mar. 3, the meeting held a roundtable on issues facing small and medium-sized corporations in the central region, including the bio industry.
Kim Ki-moon said, "In the central region, advanced strategic industries such as bio, semiconductors, secondary batteries, and defense are driving regional economic growth," and added, "For the central region to grow further, the government should help develop innovative technologies and market entry, and tailored policies should be implemented to connect private investment and fiscal support."
Kim added, "Recently, the government put together a swift wartime supplementary budget to support small and medium-sized corporations hit by the Middle East situation," and said, "I hope today's difficulties facing small and medium-sized corporations in the central region will be thoroughly reviewed and reflected in government measures."
Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy Koo Yun-cheol outlined the government's policy direction. Koo said the government is focusing on the bio and beauty industries as key growth engines of the Korean economy and emphasized its intent to provide various support, including research and development (R&D) assistance and rationalizing regulations.
At the roundtable, specific proposals from small and medium-sized corporations followed. The corporations proposed: ▲ strengthening the active pharmaceutical ingredient supply chain ▲ making financing support more flexible for innovative growth corporations such as bio infrastructure ▲ expanding support for the commercialization of medical mydata and securing regulatory flexibility ▲ rational improvements to the new medical technology assessment system ▲ fostering the femtech industry ▲ easing export regulatory hurdles for medical devices ▲ supporting the procurement of materials and supplies for medical consumables ▲ stabilizing the procurement and prices of raw materials for construction materials ▲ securing testing environments for defense small and medium-sized corporations and supporting exports ▲ establishing policies to train field engineers for small and medium-sized AI Semiconductor equipment corporations.