Gwangjin-gu Holds Settlement Report Meeting for Small Business One-Stop Support Center

On the 8th, 8 Small Business Cooperation Agencies Gathered to Share Annual Progress
Efforts to Revitalize Including Operation of Small Business One-Stop Support Center and Commercial Area Analysis Reports

Gwangjin-gu (District Mayor Kim Kyung-ho) held a meeting of the ‘Gwangjin-gu Regional Council’ on the 8th at the Gwangjin-gu Office Comprehensive Situation Room. The purpose was to share the achievements of projects with small business cooperation organizations, including the Gwangjin-gu Chamber of Commerce, and to discuss the direction of project implementation for revitalizing the local economy.

The ‘Gwangjin-gu Regional Council’ is an organization formed by eight public, private, and academic institutions including the district office, Gwangjin-gu Chamber of Commerce, Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, and Sejong University to share information on the overall local economy and establish policies for small business owners. It includes partner organizations of the Small Business One-Stop Support Center.

The meeting was held with about 20 participants from the eight institutions and proceeded with the ‘2023 Gwangjin-gu Commercial Area Analysis Report’ and the presentation of the Small Business One-Stop Support Center’s operational performance.

According to the 2023 Gwangjin-gu Commercial Area Analysis Report (based on 2022) presented by the Seoul Small Business Policy Research Center, there are 19,005 stores in Gwangjin-gu in sectors closely related to daily life such as dining and services, which is a 0.6% increase compared to the previous year, and the closure rate decreased by 1.2%. The 5-year survival rate is 0.5% higher than the overall average of Seoul.

Additionally, reports were given on commercial areas that are continuously developing and those facing difficulties. This analytical data is expected to be usefully applied to small business policy projects.

Following this, the operational performance of the ‘Small Business One-Stop Support Center’ was presented. The ‘Small Business One-Stop Support Center,’ established to provide small business owners with various services such as finance and management in one place, was opened last September through cooperation among four institutions: the district office, Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, Small Enterprise and Market Service, and Gwangjin-gu Chamber of Commerce.

The achievements so far include ▲451 consultations on small business loans, closures, and support ▲12 sessions of the visiting Small Business One-Stop Support Center ▲issuance of Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates (50 billion KRW) and Ttaenggyeoyo Gift Certificates (3.9 billion KRW) ▲support for 68 small business management doctors, among others.

In particular, the Gwangjin-type special loan project worth 52.5 billion KRW and the small and medium enterprise development fund loan project worth 8 billion KRW have become a strong support for struggling small business owners. The real-time communication sales (live commerce) and intelligent store (smart store) education for small business owners’ online market entry were evaluated as highly satisfactory projects.

Subsequently, presentations from partner organizations continued. These included ▲Sejong University’s selection as a ‘Seoul Campus Town’ target ▲implementation of local guarantee by the Gwangjin branch of Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation ▲practical training and management consulting by Gwangjin-gu Chamber of Commerce ▲loan projects and Hope Return Package re-startup support by Small Enterprise and Market Service.

Kim Kyung-ho, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the regional council, including the Gwangjin-gu Chamber of Commerce, who work hard for small business owners in our community,” and added, “We will continue to cooperate between the public and private sectors to resolve the difficulties of small business owners and discover policy projects that invigorate the local economy.”