Samsung Prepays 1.1 Trillion KRW to Partners Ahead of Lunar New Year Holiday

Operating Online Marketplace for Employees to Revitalize Domestic Economy
Incentives of 58.5 Billion KRW to Be Paid to Partner Company Employees on the 3rd of Next Month

Samsung Electronics employees purchasing products at the 'Seollal Online Market' (Photo by Samsung Electronics)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hye-young] Samsung announced on the 25th that ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, it advanced payment of 1.1 trillion KRW in goods payments to partner companies and operated an 'Online Market for Lunar New Year' for employees to revitalize the domestic economy.

The early payment of goods payments involved a total of 11 affiliates, including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung SDI, Samsung SDS, Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis, Samsung C&T, Samsung Engineering, Cheil Worldwide, and Wellstory. The payment, which is made up to more than half a month earlier, will be carried out by each company starting from this day.

Since 2004, Samsung Electronics has been advancing payments for goods before holidays to ease the financial burden on small and medium-sized partner companies. Since 2005, it has been the first domestic company to pay the full amount of partner company transactions in cash, and since 2011, it has shortened the payment cycle for goods payments to one week.

Samsung plans to pay 58.5 billion KRW in '2021 Second Half Incentives' to about 27,000 employees of approximately 300 partner companies on the 3rd of next month.

Since introducing the excellent partner company incentive system in 2010, Samsung Electronics has paid more than 500 billion KRW in incentives to partner companies residing in semiconductor business sites. It also operates a total of 3.4 trillion KRW in win-win funds and goods payment funds to stabilize the management of partner companies.

Along with this, Samsung affiliates including Samsung Electronics opened an online market for employees ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday to support the sale of agricultural and marine products and processed foods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises and social welfare corporations.

Samsung Electronics transfers know-how such as manufacturing technology innovation to domestic small and medium-sized enterprises through its 'Smart Factory' and supports expanding sales channels by providing opportunities to participate in the in-house online market.

This Lunar New Year online market included 68 small and medium-sized enterprises that introduced smart factories with Samsung's support. Compared to 10 companies in 2019, the number of participating companies has significantly increased, and the sales items have diversified to include traditional liquor, red ginseng, sausages, dried pollack, gimbugak (seaweed crackers), rice cakes, salted seafood, and kimchi.

The product of 'Bugak Maeul,' a gimbugak producer that succeeded in reducing discarded products during production by half with smart factory support, became a popular item frequently sought after by employees, recording a 'sold-out' status in this online market.

The social welfare corporation 'Pyeonghwa-ui Maeul,' which improved the manufacturing site to allow disabled employees to work more comfortably with smart factory support, has participated in the online market every year since 2019, selling sausages and ham produced by the corporation to Samsung Electronics employees.