Ministry of SMEs' 'Donghaeng Festival' with Reduced Duration and Budget... Will It Boost Consumption?

Event Period Reduced to One-Third of Usual Scale
Budget of 2.5 Billion Won Invested... 50% Decrease Compared to Previous Year
Offline Participation Expanded Ahead of Chuseok Peak Season

An information board announcing the event has been installed at Tongin Market in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where the '7-Day Companion Festival,' a consumption promotion event for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners' products, began on the 1st. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The '7-Day Together Festival' to revitalize the economy amid a consumption slump triggered by high inflation began today (the 1st). However, concerns are emerging that the effect of boosting consumption will be diminished as the event period, which lasted 16 days in 2020 and 18 days last year, has been reduced to just one week this year, and the budget has been drastically cut to about half of last year's level.

Hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Together Festival is in its third year this year and is a discount event held both online and offline to mark the recovery of daily life. The plan is to surpass the 'Together Sale' promoted during the previous administration and turn it into a 'festival ground' for nationwide consumption boom, win-win cooperation between large and small-medium enterprises, and revitalization of domestic demand.

This year, about 230 distribution channels including online shopping malls, department stores, and large supermarkets, as well as over 1,700 traditional markets and stores, are participating, with approximately 6,000 sales companies involved. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups explained that participation of offline stores, which had been depressed due to COVID-19, will be expanded, and various prize events will also be held. A ministry official said, "Compared to about 162 sales channels and 3,500 sales companies participating last year, this year is the largest scale ever."

Last year's Together Sale was held for 18 days from June 24 to July 11, whereas this year it has been shortened to about one-third of that period. Regarding this, Lee Hee-jung, head of the sales policy division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "During the event planning process, we judged that early September, ahead of the Chuseok peak season, would be effective," and added, "After consultations with large corporations, venture platforms, and others, the conclusion was that about one week is appropriate."

The budget allocated for this year's Together Festival is 2.5 billion won, about half of previous years. However, Minister Lee Young of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups expressed confidence at a briefing last month, saying, "Last year, sales of 118 billion won were achieved, with an average daily sales of about 6.6 billion won, and we aim to exceed that."

To ensure the event's success, even President Yoon Suk-yeol joined in urging public participation. In a video message the day before, President Yoon said, "Dear citizens, please join the Together Sale. I will also participate." The government held a pre-event ceremony at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul to mark the start of the Together Festival. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, government officials, lawmakers, and businesspeople all gathered for the occasion.

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