Operating Funds of 1.3 Trillion KRW for Business Stability
Startup and Competitiveness Enhancement Facility Funds of 700 Billion KRW
Support for SME Fund Loans at 2.90% Interest Rate
Gyeonggi Province announced on the 5th that it has finalized the scale of the ‘2025 Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development Fund’ at 2 trillion won to stabilize the management of SMEs and small business owners within the province.
This year, especially in response to the economic crisis caused by difficult domestic and international economic conditions such as high interest rates, high inflation, and high exchange rates, the fund support scale has been expanded by 250 billion won compared to the previous year, and fund loans, which had been suspended since 2022, will be resumed.
The ‘Operating Fund’ totals 1.3 trillion won, with detailed support items including ▲1.08 trillion won for management stabilization funds ▲100 billion won for specialized support funds ▲120 billion won for special management funds. The ‘Startup and Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (Chang-gyeong Fund)’ is planned to be supported with 700 billion won for facility funds such as factory purchase costs and construction costs.
Among these, fund loans will be provided at a scale of 200 billion won with an interest rate of 2.90% (variable rate), and the interest subsidy rate for cooperative loans from contracted financial institutions outside the fund loans ranges from 0.3 to 2.0 percentage points.
Specifically, the ‘Management Stabilization Fund’ will provide 630 billion won to support SMEs and 450 billion won for the management stabilization of small business owners (startup, management improvement, refinancing). Among these, refinancing funds will be doubled from 50 billion won last year to 100 billion won as a measure to expand support for financially vulnerable groups. The support target now includes not only existing small business funds but also users of high-interest general commercial bank loans for small business owners.
The ‘Specialized Support Fund’ is operated with a separate limit to support companies that already have existing loans, focusing on creating growth conditions for companies. It will invest 30 billion won in export-oriented companies, 20 billion won in job-creating companies, and 30 billion won in new growth innovation companies. In particular, the newly established regional balanced development company fund of 20 billion won this year will be separately limited to companies located in cities and counties selected under the ‘Gyeonggi Province Regional Balanced Development Support Ordinance’ (Pocheon, Yangpyeong, Yeoju, Dongducheon, Gapyeong, Yeoncheon) to promote balanced development between the southern and northern parts of Gyeonggi Province.
The ‘Special Management Fund’ has prepared 50 billion won as disaster damage funds to continuously support companies affected by the recent heavy snow damage and to prepare for future emergency disaster situations, and 60 billion won as reserve funds to meet the urgent funding needs of SMEs and small business owners in the province.
Heo Seung-beom, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Economic Office, said, “We aim to reduce the financial burden on small business owners and SMEs struggling amid recent political uncertainties while supporting the management stabilization of small business owners and SMEs at a growth crossroads. Along with this, we will actively discover necessary projects on the ground and provide full support to take timely measures.”
The province plans to separately announce the 2025 Gyeonggi Province SME Development Fund support plan. Previously, the province supported a total of 17,474 cases and 1.7284 trillion won in SME development funds throughout 2024.
SMEs and small business owners wishing to apply for funding can do so through the online fund management system or at one of the 26 branches of Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation.
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