Benefit-Sharing Promotion Campaign for SMEs and Middle-Standing Companies!
- Division
- 국제협력과
- Date
- 2017.07.11
- Writer
- 남효덕
- File
- Headline
- - The SMBA holds the UN MSMEs Day and Benefit-Sharing Campaign Ceremony in celebration of the first UN MSMEs Day -
□ The Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA; Young-sub Joo, Administrator) held a ceremony to celebrate the first UN MSMEs Day*. The ceremony also signaled the launch of the Administration’s Benefit-Sharing Promotion Campaign for SMEs and Middle-Standing Companies.
* UN MSMEs Day: UN Micro-, Small. and Medium-Sized Enterprises Day
◦ The UN MSMEs Day and Benefit-Sharing Campaign Ceremony was held on June 27 (Tuesday) at Kensington Hotel Yoido. Members of the Korea Federation of SMEs (Seong-taek Park, President) and the Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chae-wun Lim, Chairman) attended the said event.
* Benefit-sharing means sharing the benefit of growth between employers and employees to raise the wages and welfare benefits for employees. Benefit-sharing can take various forms, including incentives, stock options, employee shareholders, profit sharing, compensations for on-the-job inventions, Tomorrow Filling Cooperative, and tuition subsidies.
◦ The ceremony was attended by Mr. Yeong-tak Jo, the CEO of Hunet, who became the first SME entrepreneur to take the Shared Growth Challenge (or the “Shout-Out Challenge”; the Korean phrase for Shared Growth (Hamke Seongjang) can be shortened into Ham Seong, which means “shout-out” in Korean.). The Challenge marked the launch of the campaign, and the video of Park’s Shout-Out Challenge will be posted on Facebook.
- The Shout-Out Challenge is based on the famous ALS Ice Bucket Challenge*. Its name reflects the SMBA’s commitment to spreading an organizational culture where businesses and their employees grow together.
<【Additional Info】ALS Ice Bucket Challenge>
[Significance of the UN MSMEs Day]
□ The United Nations, during the General Assembly on April 16 (Thursday), announced the official designation of June 27 as the UN MSMEs Day.
◦The adoption of the UN MSMEs Day constitutes a part of the UN’s efforts to promote the awareness on the pivotal roles that MSMEs play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)*.
* Sustainable Development Goals: The UN’s key agendas for sustainable development, including elimination of poverty and prosperity without discrimination.
◦ The adoption of the UN MSMEs Day will lay the foundation for the worldwide promotion of awareness on the crucial significance of SMEs in economic development.
* SMEs’ contributions to the economy (%): Korea (no. of companies) 99.9; (employment) 87.9; (value added) 51.2Global (no. of companies) 95; (employment) 60–70; (GDP) 50 (WTO-International Trade Center, 2015)
□ The adoption of the UN MSMEs Day is made even more significant for Koreans by the fact that it is the culmination of a proposal led by Korea.
◦ Administrator Young-sub Joo, who represented Korea at the first ICSB Administratorial Summit held at the UN Headquarters last June, emphasized the need to dedicate a day to SMEs across the world.
* International Council for Small Business, ICSB: The world’s largest SME organization with more than 2,000 members across 80 countries (founded in 1995).
* The summit was attended by SME ministers and delegations from seven countries: Korea, US, Argentina, Indonesia, New Zealand, Egypt, and Kuwait. (Japan and Malaysia participated as observers).
- The Administrator also proposed a growth model for SMEs based on “human-first entrepreneurship”and officially requested the UN to adopt the MSMEs Day along with other 47 countries.
◦ The UN accepted the request and designated June 27 as the UN MSMEs Day.
[Benefit-Sharing Campaign Ceremony at a Glance]
□ Other than the first Shout-Out Challenge, the Benefit-Sharing Campaign Ceremony also included sessions where the government introduced its policy for “Corporate Culture Innovation Based on Benefit-Sharing.” Representatives from SMEs with the best benefit-sharing practices shared their experience.
ㅇ In the “Best Benefit-Sharing Practices” session, Hunet CEO Yeong-tak Jo and Midas IT CEO Hyeong-wu Lee explained how they achieved benefit-sharing and how it benefited their companies.
□ Administrator Young-sub Joo, in his address celebrating the 1st UN MSMEs Day, stressed the importance of spreading the culture of benefit-sharing based on “human-first entrepreneurship” in ensuring sustainable development and creating jobs. He also urged entrepreneurs to take part in the SMBA’s efforts.
◦ Administrator Joo said: “Start-ups, ventures, and other SMEs overcame numerous adverse conditions to become the driving force behind Korea’s economic innovation, and the main source of employment in the country.”
- The Administrator pointed out that the UN MSMEs Day will help promote awareness on the significance of SMEs, and emphasized the need to understand the need to shift the center of the Korean economy from larger conglomerates to SMEs, ventures, and middle-standing companies.
◦ According to the Administrator, in order to achieve sustainable growth, businesses should no longer treat their employees as mere expense. They need to invest in their employees to enhance their capabilities and innovate corporate culture in a way that produces more engaged employees through a horizontal partnership.
◦ The Administrator further urged entrepreneurs to participate in the Shout-Out Challenge and other programs under the campaign to promote a benefit-sharing-based corporate culture. He also announced the SMBA’s plan to encourage businesses to participate in benefit-sharing by providing incentives, as well as share Korea’s best benefit-sharing practices and policies with the rest of the world, so that Korean SMEs and middle-standing companies can assume leading roles and expand their presence in the global market.
* UN MSMEs Day: UN Micro-, Small. and Medium-Sized Enterprises Day
◦ The UN MSMEs Day and Benefit-Sharing Campaign Ceremony was held on June 27 (Tuesday) at Kensington Hotel Yoido. Members of the Korea Federation of SMEs (Seong-taek Park, President) and the Small and Medium Business Corporation (Chae-wun Lim, Chairman) attended the said event.
* Benefit-sharing means sharing the benefit of growth between employers and employees to raise the wages and welfare benefits for employees. Benefit-sharing can take various forms, including incentives, stock options, employee shareholders, profit sharing, compensations for on-the-job inventions, Tomorrow Filling Cooperative, and tuition subsidies.
◦ The ceremony was attended by Mr. Yeong-tak Jo, the CEO of Hunet, who became the first SME entrepreneur to take the Shared Growth Challenge (or the “Shout-Out Challenge”; the Korean phrase for Shared Growth (Hamke Seongjang) can be shortened into Ham Seong, which means “shout-out” in Korean.). The Challenge marked the launch of the campaign, and the video of Park’s Shout-Out Challenge will be posted on Facebook.
- The Shout-Out Challenge is based on the famous ALS Ice Bucket Challenge*. Its name reflects the SMBA’s commitment to spreading an organizational culture where businesses and their employees grow together.
<【Additional Info】ALS Ice Bucket Challenge>
▸ (Overview) A social activity aimed at raising awareness on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) and encourage donations to ALS research (started in the summer of 2014, and soon became viral over social network service platforms). ▸ (Rules) A participant nominates 3 people to take the challenge, and the nominated persons should either donate USD 100 or have a bucket of ice water poured over himself/herself within 24 hours. ▸ (Actual Goings-On) Pouring ice water was supposed to be a punishment for nominees who refuse to donate. However, in actual cases, participants who pledged to donate still had ice water poured over their heads as a performance. |
[Significance of the UN MSMEs Day]
□ The United Nations, during the General Assembly on April 16 (Thursday), announced the official designation of June 27 as the UN MSMEs Day.
◦The adoption of the UN MSMEs Day constitutes a part of the UN’s efforts to promote the awareness on the pivotal roles that MSMEs play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)*.
* Sustainable Development Goals: The UN’s key agendas for sustainable development, including elimination of poverty and prosperity without discrimination.
◦ The adoption of the UN MSMEs Day will lay the foundation for the worldwide promotion of awareness on the crucial significance of SMEs in economic development.
* SMEs’ contributions to the economy (%): Korea (no. of companies) 99.9; (employment) 87.9; (value added) 51.2Global (no. of companies) 95; (employment) 60–70; (GDP) 50 (WTO-International Trade Center, 2015)
□ The adoption of the UN MSMEs Day is made even more significant for Koreans by the fact that it is the culmination of a proposal led by Korea.
◦ Administrator Young-sub Joo, who represented Korea at the first ICSB Administratorial Summit held at the UN Headquarters last June, emphasized the need to dedicate a day to SMEs across the world.
* International Council for Small Business, ICSB: The world’s largest SME organization with more than 2,000 members across 80 countries (founded in 1995).
* The summit was attended by SME ministers and delegations from seven countries: Korea, US, Argentina, Indonesia, New Zealand, Egypt, and Kuwait. (Japan and Malaysia participated as observers).
- The Administrator also proposed a growth model for SMEs based on “human-first entrepreneurship”and officially requested the UN to adopt the MSMEs Day along with other 47 countries.
◦ The UN accepted the request and designated June 27 as the UN MSMEs Day.
[Benefit-Sharing Campaign Ceremony at a Glance]
□ Other than the first Shout-Out Challenge, the Benefit-Sharing Campaign Ceremony also included sessions where the government introduced its policy for “Corporate Culture Innovation Based on Benefit-Sharing.” Representatives from SMEs with the best benefit-sharing practices shared their experience.
ㅇ In the “Best Benefit-Sharing Practices” session, Hunet CEO Yeong-tak Jo and Midas IT CEO Hyeong-wu Lee explained how they achieved benefit-sharing and how it benefited their companies.
□ Administrator Young-sub Joo, in his address celebrating the 1st UN MSMEs Day, stressed the importance of spreading the culture of benefit-sharing based on “human-first entrepreneurship” in ensuring sustainable development and creating jobs. He also urged entrepreneurs to take part in the SMBA’s efforts.
◦ Administrator Joo said: “Start-ups, ventures, and other SMEs overcame numerous adverse conditions to become the driving force behind Korea’s economic innovation, and the main source of employment in the country.”
- The Administrator pointed out that the UN MSMEs Day will help promote awareness on the significance of SMEs, and emphasized the need to understand the need to shift the center of the Korean economy from larger conglomerates to SMEs, ventures, and middle-standing companies.
◦ According to the Administrator, in order to achieve sustainable growth, businesses should no longer treat their employees as mere expense. They need to invest in their employees to enhance their capabilities and innovate corporate culture in a way that produces more engaged employees through a horizontal partnership.
◦ The Administrator further urged entrepreneurs to participate in the Shout-Out Challenge and other programs under the campaign to promote a benefit-sharing-based corporate culture. He also announced the SMBA’s plan to encourage businesses to participate in benefit-sharing by providing incentives, as well as share Korea’s best benefit-sharing practices and policies with the rest of the world, so that Korean SMEs and middle-standing companies can assume leading roles and expand their presence in the global market.