Push for Cooperation Between Large and Small Firms
The Korea Venture Business Association (KOVA) is planning again to organize a council for cooperation between venture firms and major business groups. According to the association, now is the best time to set up the council in that social demands for technological independence are on the rise with regard to Japan’s export curbs.
“Cooperation between venture firms and large corporations in South Korea has been rather poor in substance, and we need to have more specific discussions with large companies, so we can overcome difficulties attributable to the U.S.-China and South Korea-Japan trade disputes,” KOVA Chairman Ahn Gun-joon said on Aug. 29.
The large corporations he mentioned are Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, Lotte and LG groups. The association discussed the organization of the council with them once, but the discussions were unsuccessful with hierarchical structures between large and small firms in South Korea still prevalent.
“Now is the time for our venture ecosystem to make an innovative change and the core of the change will be a horizontal relationship to take the place of the existing vertical relationship between the large and small companies,” the chairman went on to say, adding, “Although the number of large corporations in South Korea is 50 or so, the number exceeds 10,000 when their subsidiaries are included in the calculation, which means the creation of industrial ecosystems for innovative growth cannot be discussed without those large companies, and I am convinced that the council will play a great role in fostering an environment in which venture firms are regarded as important partners.”