Mokpo City, Fully Committed to Minimizing Economic Damage Caused by COVID-19

Formation of Economic Crisis Response T/F Team to Support Small Business Owners, SMEs, Jobs, and Tourism Sectors

Mokpo City Hall (Photo by Mokpo City)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jeong Hyeong-seok] Mokpo City announced on the 13th that it has launched an all-out response to minimize the economic damage and regional economic downturn caused by the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19).

The city plans to thoroughly block the inflow of COVID-19 into the local community through strict quarantine and prevention activities, and in addition, to actively respond by forming an economic response dedicated T/F team (5 teams, 15 members) to revitalize the local economy facing a crisis due to the economic recession.

In this regard, the city held a T/F team meeting on the 11th and prepared support measures at the city level in five areas: small business owners, industry and small and medium enterprises, employment and jobs, local tourism, and finance and tax support. These measures will be implemented in stages, divided into those that can be implemented immediately and those that require preparation.

First, an integrated damage and difficulty reporting center for small business owners, small and medium enterprises, and export companies was established in the local economy division. Immediate measures include closing the city hall cafeteria once a week and encouraging the use of dining establishments, operating a traditional market shopping day, early implementation of traditional market revitalization projects, prompt promotion of financial job projects, strengthening rapid execution of local finances, and providing local tax support for victims.

Furthermore, in preparation for a prolonged situation, the second-stage projects to be implemented after March include a special contribution of 100 million KRW to the Jeonnam Credit Guarantee Foundation to expand special guarantees for small business owners in the Mokpo area (scale of 1 billion KRW), interest subsidy on small business credit guarantee loans (within 2%), early additional issuance of Mokpo Love gift certificates, operation of direct transaction markets for agricultural and marine product producers, support for the local tourism industry, and focused review and budget securing for a total of 19 projects.