The Ministry of SMEs and Startups held a meeting with ‘Legend 50+’ participating companies in Changwon to discuss ways to overcome global economic challenges. Minister Oh Young-ju personally attended the meeting to hear about local SMEs’ current issues and explore support measures.
The meeting, held on the 14th at Daekeon Tech Co., Ltd., a space and defense parts company in Changwon National Industrial Complex, was attended by six Legend 50+ participating companies from the aerospace, nuclear power, and advanced precision machinery sectors, which Gyeongsangnam-do is fostering as future growth engines.
Minister Oh stated at the meeting, “Recently, the threshold for SME exports has become even higher due to strengthening protectionism and intensifying tariff wars,” adding, “In this situation, building corporate competitiveness is more important than ever, which is why we have significantly expanded the scope and scale of Legend 50+ support.”
The ministry has expanded the Legend 50+ support programs from six to nine this year, and increased the budget from 278 billion won to 431.7 billion won. Through this, they plan to nurture companies leading regional key industries and strengthen SMEs’ global competitiveness.
During the open discussion, company representatives shared their on-site challenges and requested active government support.
Daekeon Tech CEO Shin Ki-soo said, “While we continue technology development and overseas market expansion through Legend 50+, additional institutional support is needed to help new employees settle stably in the workplace.”
Jin Young TVX CEO Kim Jun-seop urged for government-level countermeasures, saying “Companies with high export ratios are experiencing difficulties due to exchange rate fluctuations.” Young Nam Metal Director Kim Byung-chul emphasized, “The government needs to take active measures to prevent export companies from being disadvantaged as the tariff war intensifies.”
In response, Minister Oh explained, “We are operating an ‘SME Support Task Force’ to minimize difficulties for SMEs in the face of growing external uncertainties, and we are closely examining the impact of strengthening protectionism.”
She also announced that the SME export support budget has been increased by 45% to 619.6 billion won compared to last year, and plans to expand the Global Business Center (GBC) to 22 locations this year.
On this day, Minister Oh visited Taerim Industry to inspect manufacturing innovation cases using smart factory implementation and artificial intelligence technology. Taerim Industry is a strong small enterprise that produces core parts for automotive steering systems and supplies products to global parts companies such as Germany’s Bosch and ZF.
Minister Oh emphasized, “Active adoption of artificial intelligence in the manufacturing sector will be a solution for SMEs to enhance competitiveness amid global protectionism,” adding, “The ministry will prepare field-customized support measures to help AI manufacturing technology spread to small and medium-sized manufacturers.”
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to continue implementing policies that reflect the practical difficulties of regional SMEs, using this meeting as a stepping stone.