Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation Ranks 'No.1 Nationwide' in Supporting SMEs and Small Business Owners Affected by COVID-19 with 24,804 Cases

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation issued a total of about 24,000 guarantee certificates in the first quarter of this year (January to March) to support companies and small business owners affected by COVID-19. This ranks first among the 16 regional credit guarantee foundations nationwide during the same period. In particular, this is about seven times more than some regional foundations that issued only around 3,000 certificates.

Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation announced on the 5th that it issued a total of 24,804 guarantee certificates in the first quarter, supporting 24,804 companies in the province with 743.3 billion KRW. Especially, from February 10, when COVID-19 rapidly spread, to the end of March, it was found that 16,735 companies were intensively supported with 525 billion KRW.

This is up to seven times more guarantee support cases compared to regional credit guarantee foundations nationwide, which processed between 3,848 and 21,433 cases during the same period.

The reason Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation achieved such results was due to its proactive response.

Following the COVID-19 support policy for affected companies by Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation proactively hired new personnel in February and dispatched head office staff to branches to actively support affected companies. They also established and actively implemented comprehensive special measures related to COVID-19, such as operating a rapid support task force, easing guarantee investigation and screening, and relaxing business trips.

Through this, Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation supported a total of 3.1 trillion KRW in guarantees, including 200 billion KRW linked to Gyeonggi Province funds, 650 billion KRW in financial institution agreement guarantees, and 1.4 trillion KRW in the Livelihood Finance Stability Package (announced by the President).

Additionally, since the 23rd of last month, Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation has partnered with commercial banks to outsource consultation and application tasks, securing internal screening time and enhancing rapid support.

In particular, on the 1st, Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation established a collaborative system with Gyeonggi Province and six commercial banks including Industrial Bank of Korea, NongHyup Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank, Shinhan Bank, and Kookmin Bank to promptly support the financial needs of small enterprises and small business owners in the province.

Lee Min-woo, Chairman of Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation, emphasized, "What companies and small business owners affected by COVID-19 need most is rapid guarantee support," adding, "Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation will do its best to provide timely support."