Gangwon-do Expands Designation of Affordable Price Businesses with 'Average 20% Cheaper' Rates

Plan to Increase from Current 643 Businesses to Over 700 Next Year
Support for Facility Improvement Costs and Delivery Fees... Providing Nationwide Top-Level Incentives

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Governor Kim Jin-tae) announced on the 19th that it plans to expand the number of Good Price Businesses to more than 700 by 2025 to stabilize prices and promote consumption in personal services such as dining out.

A view of the Gangwon Provincial Government Building. Photo by Gangwon Provincial Government

As of the end of November 2024, Gangwon Province has designated 643 Good Price Businesses and is supporting them with a budget of 2.27 billion KRW (1.8 billion KRW in direct support and 470 million KRW for delivery fee support) to ease operational burdens. This is the highest level of incentives nationwide.

Good Price Businesses can receive incentives of up to 3 million KRW per business (for facility improvements, public utility fees, supplies, etc.). Delivery users have benefited from 51,000 discounted delivery fee cases so far. Additionally, various support policies are being promoted to revitalize Good Price Businesses, including a 5% additional discount on usage amounts linked with local love gift certificates and cooperative discount benefits with credit card companies.

Source: Provided by Gangwon Provincial Government

Starting from July 2024, a map search service will be provided through map apps such as Naver Map, Kakao Map, and T Map, allowing easy search for nearby Good Price Businesses. This has greatly improved accessibility to Good Price Businesses. By displaying badges for each business along with detailed information such as business name, operating hours, usage methods, and menus, user convenience is enhanced and is expected to lead to increased sales.

□ As a result of these policies, the prices of representative dining menus (Bibimbap, Kimchi Jjigae, Samgyeopsal, Jajangmyeon, Kalguksu, Gimbap, etc.) at Good Price Businesses were found to be on average more than 20% cheaper compared to the Korea Consumer Agency’s reference prices. Good Price Businesses contribute to stabilizing local prices, and the province plans to expand the designation to about 2% of general restaurants in the province (currently 1.67%) to encourage price competition in dining menus.

Won Hong-sik, Director of the Gangwon Province Economic Bureau, stated, “When promoting next year’s projects, we will boldly support the items requested by business owners and raise the amount of direct support to reduce their operational burdens.” He added, “We plan to continuously contribute to stabilizing local prices and promoting consumption by enhancing the perceived support for Good Price Businesses.”