Incheon Airport Establishes Duty-Free Business License Exclusively for SME Products... Opening Within the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] Incheon International Airport Corporation announced on the 21st that it will establish a dedicated duty-free business license for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) products at Incheon Airport and select the Small and Medium Business Distribution Center, which operates the I’m Shopping store, as the new business operator.

I’m Shopping is a sales outlet exclusively for SME products under the 'Act on Promotion of Purchase of SME Products and Support for Sales Channels,' operating stores at Incheon Airport duty-free shops, KTX stations, and other locations.

Until now, I’m Shopping stores were operated as subleased stores by SME and mid-sized duty-free operators City Duty Free and SM Duty Free at Incheon Airport, with a total of three locations. However, after the contract with City Duty Free ended, delays in selecting a successor operator and SM Duty Free’s withdrawal from the duty-free business caused a complete suspension of store operations.

In response, the corporation created a separate duty-free business license exclusively for SME products and allowed the Small and Medium Business Distribution Center to operate it directly. The corporation plans to actively utilize this as a platform space to open sales channels for SMEs affected by COVID-19, discover promising SME products, and support their overseas expansion and growth.

The number of stores remains three as before, but the store area, which was only 197㎡, has been expanded more than 2.5 times to 510㎡, allowing many SME products to enter Incheon Airport duty-free shops and enabling diverse store configurations. In particular, they plan to create an experience zone where airport users can freely try digital new technology products and various SME idea products, making it a hot place within the airport.

Rent is set at only 10% of sales to reduce the rental burden on SMEs, and the contract period is up to 10 years, the same as other duty-free business licenses.

The corporation stated that government ministries such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Korea Customs Service actively cooperated to achieve this outcome as part of the core national agenda of 'establishing a robust growth environment for SMEs.' The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport supported the establishment of the corporation’s business license, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups provided various supports including budgets for the new opening and operation of I’m Shopping stores, and the Korea Customs Service will expedite procedures such as patent examinations to advance the store opening as much as possible.

The corporation plans to negotiate a business execution plan with the Small and Medium Business Distribution Center and conclude a private contract. After the Korea Customs Service completes the patent examination, they will begin store construction and plan to open the stores within the year.

Kim Kyung-wook, President of Incheon International Airport Corporation, said, "Incheon Airport is actively building a people-centered business model that fulfills social responsibility. Through the dedicated duty-free business license for SME products, it will serve as a win-win platform that supports the growth of promising SMEs full of ideas and passion, and as a pillar that strengthens the foundation of the national economy." He added, "We will take this as an opportunity to shift from a profitability-centered commercial facility operation concept to a commercial facility operation model that creates new value through active cooperation with partners."

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