Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups Visits Jeju for the Third Series of Small but Certain Happiness Events

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups demonstrated purchasing products using the local currency "Siru" as a resident of Siheung City at "Wolgotsiktak" located in Wolgot Port, Siheung, Gyeonggi-do on the 22nd of last month.
[Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] On the 3rd, Kwon Chil-seung, Minister of SMEs and Startups, visited Jeju Island as the third installment of the "Small but Certain Happiness (So-hwak-haeng)" campaign.

This third So-hwak-haeng follows the second installment held in the northern Gyeonggi region last October and was organized to facilitate direct communication with merchants of traditional markets, shopping districts, and local SMEs.

Minister Kwon first visited the opening ceremony of the 2021 National Excellent Market Expo, where he participated in awarding commendations to those who contributed to revitalizing traditional markets and toured various exhibition halls.

Now in its 17th year, the National Excellent Market Expo is the largest traditional market event held annually since 2004 to promote exchanges among merchants and introduce excellent products from traditional markets to customers nationwide, thereby expanding sales channels. This year's expo is especially part of a year-end consumption promotion event aimed at helping merchants recover their businesses amid difficulties caused by COVID-19.

At the opening ceremony, Minister Kwon presented government awards (23 in total), including the Seoktap Industrial Medal, to individuals and organizations such as merchants and public officials who have worked hard to revitalize traditional markets.

Minister Kwon stated, "This expo is a great opportunity to inform customers that our traditional markets are actively responding to the changes in distribution environments triggered by non-face-to-face transactions due to COVID-19. Digitalization of traditional markets is not a choice but a necessity. The government will make further efforts to digitally transform traditional markets and is preparing consumption promotion programs to support merchants struggling due to the pandemic."

On the afternoon of the second day of the expo, the 4th, he is scheduled to appear on a live commerce broadcast featuring MD (Merchandiser) recommended excellent products via Naver Shopping Live to actively promote and sell traditional market products.

Next, Minister Kwon visited "Jeju Maekju" located in Jeju City. Jeju Maekju is the leading domestic craft beer manufacturer that was selected as a preliminary unicorn in 2020 and became the first craft beer company to be listed on KOSDAQ in May this year, rapidly growing toward unicorn status.

During the visit, Minister Kwon toured the production facilities and exhibition space, encouraging the company’s relentless efforts and achievements in collaborating with various domestic and international companies to become number one in the craft beer sector domestically and to export overseas, including Europe.

For the final So-hwak-haeng schedule, Minister Kwon visited Hallasan, which is collaborating with local value creators (local creators) such as Umu in Hallim-eup, Jeju, to listen to operational status and encourage related personnel.

Local value creators are startups that combine innovative ideas with the natural and cultural characteristics and resources of a region to create business value. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups established the "Regional-based Local Creator Activation" support project last year to expand entrepreneurial opportunities for local youth and revitalize the regional economy.

Minister Kwon said, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will actively support local value creators, who are new growth engines for regions, to help them grow into representative local brands and activate an innovative regional startup ecosystem."

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