Kakao (CEO Namgoong-hoon) will use a 300 billion won win-win fund to support small business owners, digital content creators, and performing arts creators for five years.
Kakao Community Alignment Center (CAC) co-directors Kim Seong-soo and Hong Eun-taek and Kakao’s new CEO Nam Gung-hoon announced the Kakao Community Coexistence Plan through an online press conference on the 6th.
Kakao and its major affiliates provide support to small business owners and local partners, digital content creators, performing arts creators, mobility platform workers, startups and social innovators, local communities, and the mobile and digitally disadvantaged to help partners achieve sustainable growth using digital. A 300 billion won win-win fund will be utilized over 5 years.
Kakao will launch the ‘Small Merchant’ project in the first half of the year to help small business owners digitally communicate. This is a program that helps merchants across the country secure regular customers and conduct mobile marketing through the KakaoTalk channel.
Kakao operates dedicated ‘digital supporters’ who visit in person for business owners who are not familiar with digital communication and provides customized online educational content. We decided to distribute a ‘KakaoTalk Channel Promotion Kit’ to support KakaoTalk channel operation costs and help stores promote and recruit regular customers. In conjunction with Kakao Pay, ‘Easy Payment for Small Businesses’ is also supported for small business owners.
Kakao will conduct a pilot program in a small number of traditional markets in the first half of the year and expand the project nationwide in cooperation with related institutions and organizations.
The ‘Zega Birch’ project, which opens sales channels for agricultural and marine products to receive fair prices, will also be expanded. Kakao has been purchasing large quantities of agricultural products expected to be in oversupply last year and selling them through Kakao Makers, a joint ordering platform. A total of 651 tons of agricultural products have been purchased to date. Starting this year, the region and product range will be expanded.
In order to expand creator profits, Kakao serves as a bridgehead for artists to enter the global market through its ‘global original intellectual property (IP) platform’.
Kakao Entertainment will establish the ‘Kakao Entertainment Creative Support Foundation (tentative name)’ by investing at least 10 billion won over the next five years to help creators carry out sustainable creative activities. The foundation supports various treatment improvement programs, including creative support, psychological treatment support for creators, and legal support for resolving copyright issues.
In order to establish a transparent settlement system for the creator ecosystem, Kakao Entertainment will complete the construction of a system by the first half of the year that will allow not only content providers (CPs) but also writers to check settlement details. We plan to continue to improve ways to increase artist profits, such as viewer-end advertising revenue distribution. Kakao Games plans to expand investment and support for indie and small and medium-sized developers, and will also strive to support gaming culture experiences for the digitally underprivileged and foster industry talent.
The field we support along with digital creators is the performing arts field. Kakao is in the process of establishing ‘Seoul Kakao Arena’, Korea’s first and largest facility specializing in popular music performances. Kakao operates a win-win program through Arena to create growth opportunities for underprivileged artists. We take the lead in coexistence with the local community by nurturing performing arts experts, operating an academy for local residents to enjoy culture and arts, and supporting youth culture and arts infrastructure.
Kakao Mobility operates the ‘Win-Win Advisory Committee’ and the ‘Mobility Transparency Committee’ as part of its efforts to strengthen social responsibility. In order to increase profits for platform workers, measures such as lowering pro membership fees, distributing blue service cancellation fees, and improving variable commission rates for substitute drivers have been continued since September of last year.
Kakao Mobility is fundamentally seeking ways to lay a foundation for sustainable development of existing industries and revitalize the mobility market. We plan to contribute to increasing taxi drivers’ profits and advancing the industry by supplying a variety of products and services to meet the demand for riding and dispatching experiences.
We are preparing a plan for the taxi industry, which is having difficulty converting to electric vehicles due to lack of driving range and charging station infrastructure. We plan to consider various alternatives to support the mobility vulnerable and strive to ensure that the mobility industry as a whole has a positive social influence. Kakao Mobility will announce on the 7th the trust-based win-win and ESG (environmental, social, governance) management plan that it has been considering.
Center Director Hong Eun-taek said, “Coexistence is not a mission but an essential essence for Kakao to grow, and a core value that allows society and companies to continue mutually sustainable growth.” He added, “We support small business owners to successfully transition to digital.” He emphasized, “We will spare no effort in supporting our partners so that they can reap real profits.”
Source: Pangyo Techno Valley Official Newsroom
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