“Building ESG capabilities among small and midsize partners”... Lotte Duty Free provides shared-growth support for the fourth straight year

[Financial News] Lotte Duty Free will support environmental, social and governance (ESG) management at small and midsize partner companies for the fourth consecutive year. This year, it is expanding the scope of support to include sustainability report publication, in addition to tailored training and consulting.
According to industry sources on the 13th, Lotte Duty Free signed an agreement with KOFCA for the “2026 Partner ESG Support Program.” It will contribute 50 million won to a shared-growth cooperation fund and run a support program for up to 10 small and midsize partner companies.
Participating companies will have company-specific indicators selected based on KOFCA’s standard ESG guidelines for small and midsize businesses, and will receive online and offline training and consulting from specialized consulting organizations. Starting this year, support for publishing sustainability reports will also be offered to existing program participants that wish to take part.
Companies with a strong compliance rate on ESG indicators after consulting will be issued a “Certificate of ESG Excellence for SMEs.” They can receive benefits including preferential loan rates from major banks and bonus points when applying for overseas expansion support programs run by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
Since joining the partner ESG support program in 2023, Lotte Duty Free has contributed to the shared-growth cooperation fund every year. It also operates a 50 billion won shared-growth fund with the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) and Shinhan Bank, while providing partner companies with staffing support and sales and marketing assistance, including digital information display (DID) advertising at its Myeongdong main store and online promotional events.
Kim Dong-ha, CEO of Lotte Duty Free, said, “Now in its fourth year, the partner ESG support program is helping small and midsize partners strengthen their ESG management capabilities and build self-reliance. We will continue to expand shared-growth programs that help our partners become more competitive and foster a culture of mutual growth.”

[email protected] Kim Hyun-ji Reporter