Daejeon City Provides Low-Interest Loans for Food Hygiene Business Facility Improvements and More

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City is providing low-interest loans to local food hygiene businesses.

According to the city on the 13th, the loan support is provided as development funds for improving hygiene management facilities at food manufacturing and processing businesses, food service establishments, and health functional food sales businesses, as well as for menu development at businesses designated as hygiene grade or model establishments.

The loan limits for facility improvement are ▲ 200 million KRW for HACCP preparation businesses ▲ 100 million KRW for food manufacturing and processing businesses ▲ 50 million KRW for food service establishments ▲ 20 million KRW for health functional food sales businesses ▲ 10 million KRW for general restaurants’ signboards and restrooms.

Additionally, the development fund loan limit is up to 20 million KRW for businesses with excellent hygiene grades and model establishments, with an annual interest rate set at around 1%. The loan terms are a 2-year grace period followed by 3 years of equal installment repayments.

However, the city excludes businesses that have not complied with administrative orders, large businesses with annual sales exceeding 3 billion KRW, businesses for which less than one year has passed since the end of administrative sanctions due to public nuisance acts, and businesses for which less than three years have passed since recovery measures were taken, from loan support eligibility.

Businesses wishing to apply for loan support should consult with a local branch of NongHyup Bank to check loan eligibility, then prepare and submit the loan application and business plan to the relevant district office. The city plans to conduct its own review based on the submitted applications to finalize the support recipients.

For more detailed information, inquiries can be made through the hygiene departments of the respective district offices and the Food and Drug Safety Division of the city hall.

A city official stated, “We hope the loan support project will provide practical help to food hygiene operators struggling due to the economic downturn,” and added, “Since the support is provided through low-interest loans, we encourage many local food hygiene businesses to participate.”