Gwangju Seo-gu, All-Out Effort to Support Traditional Markets and Small Business Owners

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Seo Daeseok) announced on the 19th that it is making every effort to support traditional markets and small business owners who are struggling due to the contraction of consumer sentiment caused by the spread of COVID-19.

The district is conducting special quarantine measures to revitalize the use of traditional markets and has encouraged public officials to focus on using traditional markets throughout next month.

In addition, plans are underway to promote the use of traditional market restaurants and the purchase campaign using Onnuri gift certificates.

To strengthen the competitiveness and stabilize the management of small business owners, the district operates the ‘Hope Guide’ project, which provides consulting in various fields such as ▲store operation ▲marketing ▲tax ▲accounting for small business owners.

Since last year, the Hope Guide project has been promoted, and Seo-gu has expanded its budget by 2.5 times to support improvements in the business environment such as signage, interior, and hygiene and safety facility replacements.

Along with this, a special guarantee support project to resolve financial difficulties for low-credit micro small business owners lacking collateral capacity will also be promoted simultaneously.

Seo-gu will contribute 100 million KRW, and the Gwangju Credit Guarantee Foundation will support loan guarantees up to 200 million KRW per company with a maximum repayment period of 5 years within the scope of 1.5 billion KRW, which is 15 times the contribution amount.

Since the project to overcome COVID-19 is being promoted one month earlier than last year and the guarantee rate is lowered by 0.1%P to 0.7%, it is expected that micro small business owners will have more breathing room in financing.

In addition, for small and medium-sized enterprises, five companies will be selected and supported through a public contest to participate in domestic exhibitions and fairs, and each selected company will be supported with exhibition booth and equipment rental fees worth about 2 million KRW per company.

A Seo-gu official said, “Traditional markets and small business owners are facing difficulties due to the impact of COVID-19,” and added, “We will devise multifaceted measures to inject some vitality into the stagnant local economy.”

Meanwhile, Seo-gu plans to hold a special guarantee support agreement ceremony on the 21st.