The election to choose the next head of the "SME president," who represents 8.3 million small and midsize businesses, will be held on Feb. 2 next year. With the campaign period extended and the election notice moved up, the race for the next chair is expected to kick off in earnest starting in December.
According to the SME community on the 20th, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises recently held a regular board meeting and approved plans to convene an extraordinary general meeting to elect the 28th executives and to entrust the election administration to the National Election Commission.
The term of Kim Gi-moon, the 27th KBIZ chair, runs until February next year. Accordingly, KBIZ plans to hold an extraordinary general meeting on Feb. 2 next year to elect the 28th chair.
The KBIZ chair is one of the heads representing the five major business groups alongside the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea International Trade Association, The Federation of Korean Industries, and the Korea Enterprises Federation. The chair attends key government economic policy meetings and represents the rights and interests of 8.3 million small and midsize businesses and small merchants, earning the nickname "SME president."
The next chair election will proceed from the election notice to candidate registration and campaigning, followed by voting. Starting with this election, the campaign period will be extended by 10 days, from 20 to 30 days, to strengthen candidate vetting and policy competition. In line with this, the election notice date will also be moved up from 40 to 50 days before the election. The steps aim to secure sufficient time to thoroughly review candidates' policies and pledges and to strengthen members' right to know.
Accordingly, the next chair election is expected to enter a full-fledged race in mid-December with the election notice, 50 days before election day. Candidates' declarations of candidacy, policy announcements, and campaigning targeting member cooperatives are also expected to ramp up from this point.
KBIZ decided to entrust the administration of the 28th chair election to the National Election Commission to enhance fairness and transparency. The National Election Commission will handle not only candidate registration and the management of voting and ballot counting, but also crackdowns, investigations, and actions against illegal campaigning such as offering money or entertainment.