The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 11th that it held the "Korea-Italy cooperative memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing and seminar" in Rome, Italy.
The event was prepared as a follow-up project to discussions with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who visited Korea on Jan. 1, on the need to expand cooperation between the two countries' small and medium-sized enterprises and cooperatives.
Italy is a country with a developed model for revitalizing regional economies and growing small and medium-sized enterprises based on cooperatives. In particular, Emilia-Romagna is regarded as a successful case of a cooperative-centered industrial cluster.
At the event, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises and Italy's Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Confapi), and the Italian Cooperative Alliance (Legacoop) each signed an MOU. Under the agreements, the three organizations plan to expand business cooperation between the two countries' small and medium-sized enterprises and cooperatives, exchange information on cooperative policies and systems, and share market information.
Confapi, founded in 1947, is an Italian organization of small and medium-sized enterprises with about 116,000 member corporations centered on manufacturing. Legacoop, established in 1886, is a nationwide federation of cooperatives and Italy's largest cooperative organization, representing more than 10,000 cooperatives and over 7 million members.
At the seminar that followed the signing ceremony, discussions were held on policies to foster small and medium-sized enterprises in both countries and on cooperative growth models.
The Italian side introduced the development process of cooperatives, cases of consortium operations, and strategies and support systems for the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises. The Korean side presented on the theme "Korea and Italy, a cooperative innovation ecosystem for small manufacturers," proposing ways to expand bilateral cooperation.
No Yong-seok, the first vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "This event is meaningful as a new starting point for cooperation through which Korean and Italian cooperatives can grow together," adding, "We will expand support so that small and medium-sized enterprises and cooperatives can create new opportunities in the global market."