Gyeonggi-do Develops Marginalized 'Golmok Sangkwon' as Key Player in Reviving Local Economy

Mandatory Non-Face-to-Face Promotions, Operation of Smart Open Studio

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

[Asia Economy Reporter La Young-cheol] Gyeonggi Province is promoting the 'Alley Commercial District Community Revitalization Support Project' to nurture small business owners in alley commercial districts, who have been excluded from support due to the absence of merchant associations, as key players in economic revitalization.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 22nd, "The alley commercial district support project is characterized by systematically implementing field-oriented support in three stages, strengthening the community's ability to diagnose and solve their own problems independently."

In the first stage, 30 individual small business stores are grouped together, and an alley commercial district manager is assigned to provide support such as commercial district analysis, consulting, and revitalization projects, focusing on forming a single community such as a merchant association.

In the second stage, the organized communities from the first stage receive support including management education, field training, and small-scale commercialization support (joint marketing, joint facility improvements, etc.) to help them grow as key players in the development of the local commercial district.

Especially in the second stage, a 'voluntary collaboration public offering project' is conducted in parallel to enable cooperation with local organizations and universities, providing opportunities for merchant communities to coexist and collaborate with various local stakeholders such as residents.

In the third stage, communities with sufficient capabilities are supported to lead the revitalization of the local economy by implementing specialized projects such as Hope Commercial District and Old Shopping Mall Revitalization, establishing themselves as key players.

This year, the focus is on revitalizing alley commercial districts weakened by COVID-19 through the alley commercial district community revitalization project. The project targets 50 new communities in the first stage, 100 growing communities and 150 operating communities in the second stage. The third stage supports communities that have completed the second stage through a public offering.