Samsung Advances KRW 1.3 Trillion Early Payment to Partners Ahead of Chuseok to Support Domestic Demand

Samsung announced on the 14th that it will promote domestic demand ahead of Chuseok. To support cash flow at its partner companies, Samsung decided to pay KRW 1.3 trillion in supplies purchased from partners early.

Thirteen affiliates are taking part in the early payment, and each company will advance its payment date by about 7 days. The early payment amount is about KRW 110 billion more than last Chuseok.

Samsung said it expanded the payment scale to ease partners' funding burdens before the holiday and to help boost the domestic economy. The participating affiliates are Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDI, Samsung SDS, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung E&A, Cheil Worldwide, S-1, and Samsung Welstory.

Samsung is also operating an online marketplace for employees. Through this, the company is supporting efforts to stimulate domestic demand ahead of Chuseok.

Samsung will run an employee-only "Chuseok Online Marketplace" to help revitalize domestic demand. The marketplace will sell specialty products from sister villages linked to affiliates, agricultural products from farming communities across the country, and products made by small and medium-sized enterprises using smart factory systems.

A total of 17 participating affiliates are joining this year's online marketplace, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDI, Samsung SDS, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, Samsung Securities, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung E&A, Hotel Shilla, Cheil Worldwide, and S-1. Samsung plans to encourage voluntary participation by employees and will actively promote the event through internal bulletin boards and other channels to boost participation.

Samsung employees have purchased about KRW 3 billion worth of goods every year through the online marketplace during the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays, and this has contributed to efforts to revitalize local economies. This year's online marketplace also includes 31 small and medium-sized enterprises supported by Samsung Electronics in building smart factories, and those companies will sell 53 products, including sets of Korean beef and fruit.

Samsung Electronics has operated a smart factory support program since 2015 to strengthen manufacturing competitiveness among small and medium-sized enterprises. A total of 3,622 cases had been carried out through August this year.

The small and medium-sized enterprises taking part in the online marketplace introduced smart factory systems with Samsung Electronics' support, improving productivity, quality, and hygiene standards. Agricultural, livestock, and fishery products such as apples, pears, and fish sold at the marketplace were also included in the productization support, and during the washing and packaging process, the Samsung Electronics Smart Factory Center supported automation and process improvements.

Samsung operates online marketplaces by affiliate, and to expand employee participation it is also setting up additional offline marketplaces at some worksites. Samsung said that, in addition to supporting improvements in production efficiency, providing sales opportunities for employees will help partner SMEs generate stable revenue.

Samsung has also operated offline direct sales markets at its worksites nationwide every holiday to help sell local products. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, it has focused on online marketplaces since Chuseok in 2020.

Samsung is pursuing social contribution activities that link the growth achievements of key businesses such as semiconductors to the revitalization of local economies. Samsung Electronics has separately implemented holiday-season support to stimulate the economy every year, and in May it pledged to expand social contributions worth KRW 5 trillion. Samsung Electronics continues to announce specific implementation measures for expanding social contributions.

Last June, it held the "Samsung Electronics Thanksgiving Festival with the People." The event was designed to give customers who purchased Samsung Electronics products Onnuri gift certificates worth 20% of their purchase amount, while K-Heroes such as military service members, police officers, firefighters, and correctional officers received Onnuri gift certificates worth 30% of their purchase amount. Samsung Electronics planned the event with the aim of linking customer benefits to sales growth for local small merchants and SMEs.

Then in July, five affiliates — Samsung Electronics, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, and Samsung Securities — contributed KRW 200 billion to the Samsung Smile Microcredit Foundation. The contribution was made to expand inclusive finance.

The Samsung Smile Microcredit Foundation supports financially vulnerable groups and small self-employed business owners. The support is provided on an unsecured, unguaranteed basis and includes business operating funds, startup funds, and emergency living expenses.

Samsung plans to prepare a variety of measures to fulfill its pledge to expand social contributions going forward, and it also plans to announce those measures.

Source: TECHWORLD · Park Gyu-chan
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=406890

References

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