Gwangyang City Supports Small Business Owners with 'Noran Usan Gongje Hope Incentive'

Preparing for Business Closure, Death, Old Age, and Retirement to Ensure Life Stability and Lay the Foundation for Business Resumption

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] Gwangyang City announced on the 5th that it will implement the 'Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Hope Incentive Fund' support project to stabilize the livelihood and expand the social safety net for small business owners in the region.

The Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid is a public mutual aid system operated by the Korea Federation of SMEs, where small business owners can voluntarily accumulate retirement funds (mutual aid contributions) ranging from 50,000 KRW to 1,000,000 KRW to secure livelihood stability from risks such as business closure or old age and to prepare a foundation for business recovery.

When payment reasons such as business closure, death, old age, or retirement occur, the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid allows recipients to receive mutual aid funds and enjoy benefits such as income deduction up to 5 million KRW annually, compound interest, and free accident insurance enrollment.

The support target is small business owners with annual sales of 200 million KRW or less whose business is located in Gwangyang City. The city contributes 10,000 KRW monthly along with the subscriber's contribution, and this can be overlapped with the 20,000 KRW support provided by Jeollanam-do Province.

The city will support this project with a budget of 27 million KRW this year and plans to secure additional supplementary budgets for further support if the project funds are insufficient.

To apply for the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid, visit a local financial institution or access the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid website to apply.

Lee Hwa-yeop, Director of the Regional Economy Division, said, "Having safety measures like the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid will greatly help small business owners stabilize their livelihoods and recover their businesses when facing unexpected situations such as COVID-19," and added, "Gwangyang City plans to actively support more local small business owners to join the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid."

Meanwhile, Gwangyang City was the first in Jeollanam-do Province to implement the Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Hope Incentive Fund support project in 2019, supporting 487 people in 2019 and 803 people last year.