Forty-five of the nation’s major companies agreed Monday to carry out certain projects jointly with their parts suppliers and share the excess profits beyond their targets with them, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.

Large companies, including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, SK Telecom and LG Electronics, said they would work together with their 654 parts suppliers on 1,073 projects in the next year.

With the new voluntary agreement, the number of smaller firms benefiting jumps 8.7-fold, while that of related projects increases four-fold compared to the past two years, the ministry said.

In February, a presidential panel on shared growth between large and smaller firms adopted a much watered-down version named “cooperation benefit sharing” to be voluntarily adopted by conglomerates.

Even though the pact is not mandatory, the ministry predicted that the participation of major firms on Monday would give fresh momentum to the ongoing profit-sharing initiative.

Knowledge Minister Hong Suk-woo, Federation of Korean Industries chairman Huh Chang-soo and Yoo Jang-hee, head of the Commission on Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies, also attended the signing ceremony for the agreement.

As part of the agreement, companies will set up an exclusive team responsible for the profit-sharing initiative and have internal guidelines.

All related contracts will be made in advance so that partner companies can share the profits in a more transparent way.

On Monday, individual companies also unveiled their more specified plans to implement.

Samsung decided to open business opportunities even to smaller firms that have never worked with the electronics giant. The company also plans to share profits in diverse ways by sharing intellectual property rights or signing contracts for a longer term.

Hyundai Motor will focus more on supporting the global operation of small companies and carrying out joint research and development projects. The top carmaker promised it will further secure stable supplies of partners when a new plant in Brazil starts production in the latter half of this year.

POSCO, the world’s fourth largest steel maker, has already created a fund worth 160 billion won ($137 million) for profit-sharing with parts suppliers, the company said.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)