Small Business Products Go Global with 'Donghaeng Festival'... First Opening Abroad

A Stepping Stone for SMEs and Small Business Owners to Enter the ASEAN Market
Opening of Popup Stores and Permanent Shops for Excellent Products

The Donghaeng Festival, the largest promotional event for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners, is expanding overseas. Using the Donghaeng Festival held in Hanoi, Vietnam as a stepping stone, it is expected that the market development of SMEs and small business owners in the ASEAN region will expand.

On the 29th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held a special opening event for the 'September Donghaeng Festival' at the L7 Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam. This is the first time the Donghaeng Festival has been held overseas.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said in his opening remarks, "Last year, the trade volume between the two countries exceeded 79.4 billion dollars, and since the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2022, Vietnam has been Korea's third largest trading partner and a key cooperation country for two consecutive years." He explained the reason for selecting Vietnam as the first overseas venue for the Donghaeng Festival, saying, "Vietnam is the second largest destination for Korean SMEs' local expansion and a place with a strong Hallyu wave such as K-beauty and K-food, making it very important for the globalization of SME and small business products."

Booth at the 'September Together Festival' held at L7 Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups)

This special event marked the opening ceremony signaling the start of the month-long September Donghaeng Festival running until September 28, and included ▲ an export consultation meeting for SMEs and small business owners in cooperation with Lotte ▲ a pop-up store for small business owners ▲ and the opening of a dedicated sales store for small manufacturers.

The opening ceremony was attended by more than 50 guests, including key Korean business figures active locally such as the President of the Vietnam-Korea Chamber of Commerce, Lotte Mart CEO Kang Sung-hyun, and Jang Ho-seung, Minister-Counselor and Consul General of the Korean Embassy in Vietnam.

Minister Oh said, "It is very meaningful to announce the opening of the Donghaeng Festival in Vietnam, an important economic cooperation partner of the Republic of Korea," and added, "I hope that through this event, excellent Korean products will be introduced starting from Vietnam to ASEAN and around the world, and that it will contribute to the continuous economic development of both countries."

Until 6 p.m. that day, an export consultation meeting prepared in cooperation between the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Lotte was held at the L7 Hotel. This was part of the follow-up measures to the 'Business Agreement to Support the Global Expansion of SMEs and Small Business Owners' signed between the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Lotte affiliates on July 10. Forty companies participating in the Donghaeng Festival and 40 companies operating in Lotte participated respectively.

Through one-on-one consultations with buyers from leading distribution companies in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries, SMEs and small business owners with the will and passion to expand beyond the domestic market showcased their products and were provided with opportunities to expand their sales channels.

Minister Oh encouraged the participating K-beauty and food companies by examining their products at the export consultation meeting, saying, "The role of SMEs and small business owners is very important in Korea's exports," and "We will work harder to ensure that more of our excellent products are exported."

From September 3 for seven days, a pop-up store where small business owners participating in the Donghaeng Festival can directly experience and sell their products is held at the main venue, the Atrium on the first floor of Lotte Mall Hanoi.

Products are sold via QR code through online shopping malls that have entered the Vietnamese market such as Shopee and Gmarket Global, and a gift event allowing customers to experience traditional Korean culture is also held. Additionally, for Vietnamese customers interested in K-beauty, a digital nail art experience booth and a makeup show event conducted by a makeup artist invited from Korea were held.

The permanent small business beauty store 'Dugeun Dugeun' located in Vincom Mega Mall Royal City, Hanoi, Vietnam. (Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups)

At 2 p.m. that day, the opening ceremony of DooK’N DooK’N, a permanent beauty store for small manufacturers, was held at Vincom Mega Mall Royal City in Hanoi, continuing the momentum of the Donghaeng Festival.

DooK’N DooK’N is an offline sales store dedicated to small manufacturers opening in Vietnam to support the overseas expansion of excellent domestic small manufacturers. To target the main consumer base in Vietnam, women in their 20s and 30s, a K-beauty product experience space was prepared, and the interior atmosphere of the store was designed to give the feeling of traveling to Korea.

The opening ceremony was attended by Minister Oh, Park Sung-hyo, Chairman of the Small Enterprise and Market Service, and Cho Hyun-min, President of Hanjin, who took time to demonstrate the products on display.

Minister Oh said, "As part of the 'K-Beauty SME Global Competitiveness Enhancement Plan' announced last July, it is very meaningful that this is the first overseas store opened by small manufacturers directly producing beauty and health products," and added, "We expect the DooK’N DooK’N store to be a stepping stone for excellent small manufacturers with competitiveness to expand overseas."

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