Gyeongbuk Province Signs Non-Face-to-Face 'Consumer Safety Net Enhancement' Agreement ... Adapting to Digital Consumption Patterns

The Korea Corporate Consumer Experts Association and Andong National University Establish Cooperation Framework MOU

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Gyeongsangbuk-do announced on the 20th that on the 18th, it signed a business agreement at the provincial government office with the Korea Corporate Consumer Experts Association and Andong National University to strengthen the 'Consumer Safety Net in Gyeongbuk in the Era of COVID-19 and Non-Face-to-Face Consumption.'

The signing ceremony was planned to connect companies and consumers and proactively prevent related damages in response to changes in digital consumption patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through this agreement, Gyeongbuk Province will collaborate with the Korea Corporate Consumer Experts Association, a non-profit corporation under the Fair Trade Commission with 145 member companies including Samsung Electronics, SPC Group, and Yuhan-Kimberly, as well as Andong National University, to establish a cooperative system for consumer complaints, especially strengthening the online purchase safety net for elderly consumers through various activities.

Taking this agreement as an opportunity, the province plans to enhance consumer education in cooperation with specialized institutions to improve digital consumption capabilities such as mobile payments, which have surged this year. As of the end of June, the mobile shopping payment rate increased by 66.8% compared to the same month last year (Statistics Korea data).

Ha Dae-seong, Deputy Governor for Economy of Gyeongsangbuk-do, stated, "We will do our best to minimize consumer complaints related to residents' consumption life during the COVID-19 era and to lead a happy consumer economy for residents through inter-agency cooperation so that they can adapt to consumption patterns suitable for the times."

Meanwhile, in Gyeongsangbuk-do, which has already entered a super-aged society with an elderly population ratio of 21.4% as of the end of August (Statistics Korea), the number of consultations for elderly consumers increased more than fourfold from 749 cases in 2015 to 3,012 cases in 2019.