Daegu Mayor Koo Kyoung-Ho: "Bold Regulatory Innovation Will Fundamentally Transform the Regional Economy"

Attending the Daegu Gyeongbuk Small and Medium Businessmen's Conference

On July 7, Daegu Mayor Koo Kyoung-Ho stated, "There is no risk of failure for the public sector over the course of a year, but small and medium-sized business owners fight fiercely every single day," and urged, "I ask all public officials to thoroughly view things from the perspective of entrepreneurs, to consider their concerns, and to act with urgency."

Attending the "2026 Daegu Gyeongbuk Small and Medium Businessmen's Conference" held at Hotel Inter-Burgo Daegu on the same day, Mayor Koo remarked, "All current large enterprises started out as small and medium-sized businesses, and without SMEs, neither large corporations nor the regional economy could exist." He added these comments to emphasize his point.

Daegu Mayor Jo Kyoung-ho is speaking at the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Small and Medium Enterprise Conference.

Currently, there are about 350,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in Daegu, accounting for 99.9% of all businesses in the region and providing 92.3% of local employment, making them the backbone of the regional economy.

Mayor Koo declared, "The top priority for Daegu is the economy," adding, "We will make the fundamental transformation of Daegu's economy, through fostering future industries and bold regulatory innovation, the core axis of city administration." He further pledged, "We will operate emergency economic countermeasure meetings at all times to closely examine suggestions and improvement tasks from the business field, and will proactively reform ordinances and regulations that hinder business activities."

In this context, Mayor Koo instructed at an executive meeting on the 6th to establish a channel for regulatory improvement proposals so that voices from the business field can be heard directly, and to respond swiftly to the progress of these matters. The first emergency economic countermeasure meeting, presided over by the mayor, will be held on July 9, and the city plans to continue listening to business concerns and improving regulations.

Meanwhile, the event was attended by Daegu Mayor Koo Kyoung-Ho, Yang Geum-Hee, Vice Governor for Economic Affairs of North Gyeongsang Province, Seong Tae-Keun, Chairman of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk branch of the Korea Federation of SMEs, Jeong Ki-Hwan, Head of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Regional Office of SMEs and Startups, Yoon Kyung-Ja, Head of the Daegu Regional Public Procurement Service, Kang Jeong-Hoon, President of iM Bank, Lee Sang-Gil, Executive Vice Chairman of the Daegu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and about 160 others.

During the event, a total of 46 individuals were honored, including Euntae Kim, CEO of DESCO Co., Ltd., who received the Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit; Baekeun Hwang, CEO of Shinsin M&C Co., Ltd., who received a Presidential Citation; Deoksu Jin, CEO of Daehong Costec Co., Ltd., Yeongkwon Hwang, CEO of KPE Technology Co., Ltd., Secheol Lee, CEO of Daeshin Industry Co., Ltd., and Joeun Kim, President of the Daegu Gyeongbuk Natural Dyeing Cooperative, who each received the Mayor's Award of Daegu.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.