Ministry of SMEs and Startups Creates Glocal Commercial Districts to Attract Global Visitors to Local Areas

‘The 10th Small Business Owners' Practical Policy Consultation Meeting’ Held

On the 20th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that it held the '10th Policy Council for Small Business Owners' at Localstitch Creator Town Seogyo in Seoul. This policy council was organized to share excellent field cases and discuss the future direction of policies under the theme of 'Glocal Commercial District Development,' with this year's Glocal Commercial District Project selected teams, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and related local government officials participating.

Localstitch, which operates Creator Town Seogyo, manages a total of 23 spaces nationwide, including Seogyo-dong, combining co-working, co-living, and retail for small business owners. It supports various challenges to help small business owners transform into local creators by connecting foreigners, travelers, and creators seeking region-specific workation experiences with creative small business owners. Based on this, Localstitch was selected as the Glocal Commercial District Creation Team for Tongyeong City.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is inspecting the site ahead of attending the "10th Policy Consultation Meeting for Small Business Owners" held on the 20th at Local Stitch Creator Town Seogyo in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

At the meeting, presentations were made by regional Glocal Commercial District Creation Teams such as Localstitch's 'Glocal Creator Town, the Land of the Sea Tongyeong,' Krypton's 'Jeonju Glocal Social Club,' and Gongjon Space's 'Suwon New Town Project.' Kim Sumin, CEO of Localstitch, stated, “We will turn Tongyeong, with its unique historical and cultural identity and natural environment, into a global workation sanctuary through content creation and collaboration with existing traditional markets and alley commercial districts.”

Minister Oh Young-joo said, “Starting from Honghap Valley (between Hongdae Station and Hapjeong Station), encompassing Yeontral Park (Yeonnam-dong) to the north, Red Road and Club Street to the east, Sangsu-dong Coffee Street to the south, and Seogyo-dong and Mangridan-gil to the west, the creation of a glocal commercial district that is hard to find anywhere else in the world is thanks to the efforts of creative small business owners and local creators.” “We will create at least one glocal commercial district led by the private sector in each region that attracts and retains people from around the world, going beyond preventing regional extinction to fostering the regional economy and ultimately generating new growth engines for the Republic of Korea,” he added.