Gangdong-gu Small Business Special Credit Loan Interest-Free Support Recognized as an Excellent Case

Gangdong-gu, Last Year’s Largest Local Currency Issuance Among Autonomous Districts, Full Effort to Support Small Businesses with Interest-Free Loans and More

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) has stood by small business owners who were hit hard by COVID-19 and has made significant achievements over the past year.

Gangdong-gu won the Excellence Award in the ‘2021 Regional Small Business Hope Loan Contest’ hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

The ‘Special Interest-Free Credit Loan Support Project’ of Gangdong-gu, which received the Excellence Award, was evaluated to have greatly contributed to the management stability of small business owners, securing a financial incentive of 300 million KRW.

Over the past two years, the district has provided interest-free credit loans covering the full loan interest to small business owners and self-employed individuals who suffered the most from the unprecedented spread of COVID-19, helping them overcome management crises together, while also issuing large-scale local currency to stimulate the economy.

Following 18 billion KRW in loans supported in 2020, 36 billion KRW was secured in 2021 to carry out special guarantee recommendations and one-year interest-free credit loans.

This is the largest scale among Seoul’s autonomous districts. Through this project, a total of 2,363 small and medium-sized merchants received support over the past two years.

Moreover, to revitalize the local economy, which saw a sharp decline in sales due to strengthened social distancing, Gangdong-gu issued 30 billion KRW worth of local currency called Gangdong Sarang Gift Certificates and 16 billion KRW worth of Gangdong Bitsal Money, receiving great responses from local residents.

In 2022, Gangdong-gu plans to actively support small business owners by continuing low-interest loan support projects and simultaneously issuing local currency.

First, about 2.3 billion KRW in interest-free special credit loans and 3 billion KRW in ultra-low interest management stability support loans at around 1% interest will be supplied to low-credit small business owners affected by COVID-19.

Also, within the first half of the year, 14 billion KRW worth of Gangdong Sarang Gift Certificates and 3 billion KRW worth of Gangdong Bitsal Money will be promptly issued, which is expected to help overcome the financial crisis of small business owners amid COVID-19 and stimulate the economy, thereby generating employment effects.

In particular, next year, five local ‘Our Neighborhood Labor Counseling Cafes’ will be operated, where any worker can receive consultations nearby or, if necessary, expert consultations. Additionally, for small business owners who find it difficult to make time, a labor consultation project will be conducted where experts visit directly to provide consulting on overall business operations.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, “I hope the small business support projects actively promoted by our district have helped small and medium-sized merchants overcome management crises amid the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. We will continue to strive to implement multifaceted support policy projects for self-employed and small business owners so that we can welcome a hopeful new year together.”