'Good Landlords' Actively Participating Traditional Markets, Preferential Treatment in Various Business Support Applications

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces '2022 Traditional Market Shopping District Support' to Prepare for Post-Corona

Traditional markets that actively participated in the Good Landlord Movement receive preferential treatment in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' "Traditional Market and Shopping District Revitalization Project."
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Traditional markets that actively participated in the 'Good Landlord' campaign, where more than 20% of all stores reduced rent, and those with a mobile Onnuri gift certificate affiliation rate of over 50% will receive preferential treatment in the traditional market revitalization support project.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 15th that it will recruit applicants for the '2022 Traditional Market and Shopping District Revitalization Project' support targets from the 21st of this month to the 9th of next month.

The '2022 Traditional Market and Shopping District Revitalization Project' consists of a total of 13 projects, including specialized market development, market management package support, complex youth mall creation, and parking environment improvement projects. By announcing the project early, next year's support targets can be decided in advance, local governments can reflect local budgets early, and applicant markets can secure sufficient preparation time, which is expected to enhance project outcomes.

Next year's 'Traditional Market and Shopping District Revitalization Support Project' features strengthened disaster preparedness and post-COVID-19 response. Notably, efforts to create traditional markets where merchants and customers can feel safe through thorough disaster preparedness for fires, floods, and other disasters stand out.

Stores that have subscribed to fire mutual aid or private fire insurance and account for less than 25% of all operating stores will be restricted from applying, while those exceeding 50% will receive preferential support. Additionally, the aging electrical wiring maintenance project, which was previously supported only for traditional markets, has expanded its application target to shopping districts.

To improve the situation where unregistered businesses cannot receive government support even in the event of a disaster, additional points will be awarded to areas with high business registration rates to encourage business registration in traditional markets.

As consumer behavior shifted to non-face-to-face due to COVID-19, a digital traditional market project has been newly established to enable traditional markets to adopt non-face-to-face transaction methods, supporting online platform entry and the establishment of human and material infrastructure for delivery and shipping.

To overcome the impact of COVID-19 early through private sector coexistence, traditional markets (shopping districts) that actively participated in the 'Good Landlord' campaign, where more than 20% of all stores reduced rent, and those with a mobile Onnuri gift certificate affiliation rate of over 50% will receive additional points in all projects.

Traditional markets wishing to apply for next year's project must submit an application form and business plan by mail or online by the 9th of next month. The results of the candidate market selection will be announced in September, and the final support targets will be confirmed around December once the support budget is decided.

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, "I sincerely thank the merchants who have endured difficulties in business due to COVID-19 and have faithfully followed government quarantine guidelines such as thorough quarantine and business restrictions." He added, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to mobilize all policy capabilities for the rapid normalization of traditional markets and shopping districts, including digitalization of traditional markets and joint marketing support to promote domestic consumption in preparation for the post-COVID-19 era."

For more detailed information regarding project participation applications, please refer to the websites of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Corporate Madang, and the Small Enterprise and Market Service.