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Busan City Announces Results of the “2025 Regional Contribution Survey” of Major Retailers

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The Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced the results of the “2025 Regional Contribution Survey” (based on 2024 data) conducted on 151 stores operated by 15 major retail companies such as department stores and large discount stores in the region.

• ●15 Major Retailers: Lotte Department Store, Shinsegae Department Store, Hyundai Department Store, NC Department Store, Shinsegae Simon, Lotte Mall, Lotte Mart, Homeplus, Emart, NongHyup Hanaro Mart, Mega Mart, Costco, Top Mart, GS The Fresh, Lotte Super

○ The regional contribution survey, introduced in 2009, aims to assess the contribution of large retailers to the local community and guide them toward voluntary cooperation and shared growth with local communities.

○ The evaluation consists of 8 items across 2 main categories. Indicators are revised and supplemented through the “Win-Win Cooperation Council for Retail,” which includes retailers, civic groups, experts, and related agencies.

<Evaluation Categories> - **Regional Contribution (3 items):** ▲Local employment ▲Use of local banks ▲Participation in public interest projects - **Mutual Cooperation (5 items):** ▲Purchasing of local products ▲Presence of local vendors ▲Permanent local product zones ▲Local product exhibitions ▲Use of local subcontractors

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Based on the 2024 performance, this year’s (2025) survey showed a decline in overall performance due to changes in the retail environment and the impact of high inflation and interest rates.

○ Among major indicators, the local employment rate (98.0%) and local vendor occupancy rate (9.0%) decreased by 0.2 and 0.5 percentage points respectively compared to the previous year, whereas the local product procurement rate (38.8%) and locally produced product procurement rate (21.1%) increased by 3.0 and 6.2 percentage points respectively.

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Accordingly, the city held the “Win-Win Cooperation Council for Retail” on the 19th at 3:30 PM in the City Council conference room, urging retail representatives to strengthen cooperation through public interest initiatives and enhanced regional contribution.

<Overview: 2025 Win-Win Cooperation Council for Retail>

• ●(Legal Basis) Article 4 of the Busan Ordinance on Win-Win Cooperation in the Retail Industry and Protection of Small Businesses

• ●(Date/Location) Thursday, June 19, 2025, 15:30 / City Council B3, Conference Room 1

• ●(Participants) 25 committee members including Busan City, City Council, consumer groups, small retailers, and 15 major retailers

• ●(Agenda) Presentation of 2025 regional contribution results and guidelines, and request for improved contributions

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Meanwhile, based on a comprehensive evaluation of this year’s indicators, Shinsegae Department Store and Mega Mart were selected as the top-rated retailers.

○ Shinsegae Department Store has been selected for four consecutive years (since 2022), achieving high scores in numerous categories for actively participating in public interest projects such as sister partnerships with traditional markets, public campaigns, and marine ecological forest projects.

○ Mega Mart was selected for the second consecutive year, receiving high scores in local employment and procurement of local products. It also contributed to revitalizing nearby offline commercial districts by supporting parking lot use for market customers near its stores.

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Kim Bong-cheol, Director-General of the Digital Economy Bureau, stated, “Through the annual regional contribution survey, we aim to promote cooperation between small local merchants and large retailers,” and added, “Based on this year’s results, we will continue discussions with major retailers to increase their regional contributions and develop practical measures to support local small businesses and SMEs.”