UNIST held the 2nd annual synergy forum amongst large corporations and small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on June 20, 2018.
Hosted by the Institute for the 4th Industrial Revolution at UNIST and the Korea Industry 4.0 Innovation, the event was held at Lotte City Hotel in Ulsan. The forum has invited a number of local industry leaders to share their perspectives and experience that will help businesses thrive in the era of Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The speakers at the forum were from nation’s leading corporations and organizations, discussing how to further strengthen the mutually beneficial cooperation between large firms and SMEs.
At the forum, President Mooyoung Jung of UNIST delivered the welcome address. Congratulatory remarks were also made by Administrator In-Sung Ha of Ulsan Regional SMEs and Startup Office, Director KyungSul Jeon of Ulsan Metropolitan City Creative Economy Office, and President HanGu Park of the Korea Industry 4.0 Innovation.
During the course of the event, Director General SeungWon Seo of Policy Planning at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups delivered a keynote address on the topic of “Government Policies on Maximizing the Synergy amongst Large and Small-and-Medium Enterprises.”
Director General SeungWon Seo of Policy Planning at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is delivering a keynote address.
The opening plenary lectures of the forum were given by Chairman KyungMan Lee of Korea Institute of Fair Trade (KIFT) Gangnam Office, Researcher SangYoon Kim of POSCO Research Institute (POSRI), Professor EueHun Lee of KAIST, Deputy Director KiSeok Yu of Startup Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. They presented on “A Survival Guide for Small Businesses: How to Survive the Fourth Industrial Revolution alongside Conglomerates”, “Framework on Mutual Cooperation between Large and Small Enterprises in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Mass Production”, “Diffusion of World Class 300 for Strengthening the Competitiveness of SMEs”, and “Government Support Policies for SMEs” respectively.
The event also featured the following speakers in the large corporation sector for the invited keynote lectures: Consultant GwiHyung Seo at Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd., and Technical Expert SangRyong Shin at Critical Technology Institute of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. They presented on the “Digital Transformation to Maximize the Synergy between Small and Large Firms” and the “Current Statue of Industry 4.0 and Its Implications in Shipbuilding”.
In the SME sector, President GyuNam Choi of Hanguk Mold Co., Ltd. presented on the topic of “Bottleneck Factors to the Growth of SMEs” and Vice President WonHo Choi of TOP Industry Co., Ltd. talked about what SMEs expect of the conglomerates.
“The success of German business is driven by its SMEs, which is due to the successful implementation of German government’s Industry 4.0 strategy,” says Managing Director Dong Sub Kim of the Institute for the 4th Industrial Revolution at UNIST. “Korea needs to move beyond win-win partnership between large and small enterprises to synergy-maximizing partnership by maintaining strong cooperation amongst the government, conglomerates, and SMEs.”
