Pohang City Prioritizes Stabilizing Consumer Prices... Public and Private Sectors Collaborate

Public-Private Cooperation, Nationwide Citizen Countermeasure Meeting for Stabilizing Living Costs and People's Economy

Promotion of Consumption Stimulation Projects and New Support Programs for Small Business Owners

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] Pohang City is mobilizing all administrative power to devise measures to curb the relentlessly rising prices in the new year.

On the 7th, the city held a pan-citizen countermeasure meeting for livelihood economy and price stabilization at the city hall's large conference room, attended by about 60 stakeholders including related organizations such as the Pohang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Small Enterprise and Market Service, financial institutions, small business groups, and consumer organizations.

On the 7th, Pohang City held a citywide countermeasure meeting for people's livelihood economy and price stabilization.

The meeting was organized to share countermeasures among related institutions regarding the persistently unstable price situation and to discuss the city's price policy direction. It dealt in depth with practical policies that citizens can feel, such as supporting heating costs for vulnerable groups amid the increased burden on low-income households due to the recent sharp rise in gas fees.

Additionally, the meeting discussed a comprehensive management plan for livelihood economy and price stabilization focusing on four key items: ▲ fostering a public-private cooperation atmosphere ▲ establishing and operating a local price management system ▲ promoting consumption stimulation projects ▲ implementing policies with high citizen perception.

First, Pohang City will create an atmosphere of price stabilization through public-private cooperation. It will conduct promotional activities using departments and networks and foster a consumption stimulation atmosphere through campaigns involving consumer organizations.

Alongside this, the city plans to operate a ‘Comprehensive Price Situation Room’ led by Vice Mayor Kim Nam-il as the situation chief, and strengthen a continuous monitoring system for living prices through joint inspections, systematizing crackdowns on unfair trade practices such as unjust fees and price labeling.

Riding on the gradually easing quarantine measures, the city plans to revitalize the local economy by promoting large-scale consumption stimulation projects.

Through hosting the large-scale consumption stimulation event ‘Pohang Sale Festa (tentative name),’ the city will offer various discounts and promotional events, providing consumers with reasonable consumption opportunities and offering growth chances to small and medium enterprises and small business owners, thereby inducing revitalization of the domestic market.

Moreover, Pohang City will strengthen mutual cooperation through business agreements with key small business-related institutions such as the Small Enterprise and Market Service, and concretize new support projects including policy fund interest subsidies, employment incentives, and health checkup support.

In particular, the city plans to minimize citizens’ burdens by discussing the suppression of increases in six types of local public utility fees directly related to citizens’ lives (water supply, sewage, garbage bag fees, city buses, taxis, and city gas fees).

Also, the city plans to significantly expand and intensively promote the ‘Good Price Stores,’ which increased sharply from 76 locations last year to 151 locations, to induce a price stabilization atmosphere this year as well.

Furthermore, the city will actively pursue economic revitalization strategies that citizens can feel in daily life, including ▲ expanding energy voucher support amounts for vulnerable groups ▲ developing consumption-centered tourist spots such as hotspots, cafes, and restaurants ▲ and specializing traditional markets.

Kwon Hyuk-won, Director of the Job and Economy Bureau, said, “We will prioritize price stabilization as the top administrative task and concentrate all administrative power on developing price stabilization policies that citizens can feel through organic cooperation between the public and private sectors.”