Applications Accepted Until May 2
Up to 2 Billion KRW Supported Over Two Years
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 6th that it is recruiting consortia composed of basic local governments and lead institutions to participate in the Regional Commercial District Vitalization Support Project.
The Regional Commercial District Vitalization Support is a follow-up project to the 'Customized Package Support Plan for Population Declining Areas' announced last year. It is a policy where central government ministries and local governments jointly support commercial district development strategies planned by the private sector to revitalize commercial districts in population-declining and interest areas.
This project was introduced to establish a foundation for continuous growth by jointly selecting and linking projects that were individually supported in population-declining areas and declining commercial districts, rather than providing one-time support.
First, to successfully promote the Regional Commercial District Vitalization Support, four ministries including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will discover linked support projects through work consultations and discuss and share each institution’s roles and support plans for each project.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will oversee the public contest process and project operation as the leading agency of the Regional Commercial District Vitalization Support and support the execution of commercial district development strategies planned by the private sector. Additionally, as a specialized support institution, the Small Enterprise and Market Service will be responsible for pre-consulting the project plan and managing project funds.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will provide support using local extinction response funds, etc., targeting local governments that include commercial districts selected through the contest. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will support preferential selection for urban regeneration projects and loans for small-scale urban regeneration projects. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to prioritize infrastructure projects that improve regional shopping convenience services (such as foreigner payment systems) to attract tourists.
The Regional Commercial District Vitalization Support will accept applications from the 7th of this month until the 2nd of next month, and two final sites will be selected through joint evaluation by the ministries. After selection, up to 2 billion KRW per site (50% national funds: 50% local funds matching) will be supported for two years.
The project targets preliminary commercial district areas with 50 or more stores in population-declining and interest areas announced by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Basic local governments and private commercial district planners must form a consortium as lead institutions and apply together.
The lead institutions establish an operation plan for revitalizing the local commercial district, covering software strategies such as commercial district branding and small business education, as well as hardware construction and improvement such as space remodeling and creation of shared facilities. Local governments should include in the project plan a promise to provide local funds covering up to 50% of the project cost, and administrative support such as providing space and enacting ordinances if necessary.
Selection will be conducted by a public-private joint evaluation committee including private experts, based on criteria such as project execution capability, appropriateness of the plan, sustainability, and expected effects, and the final sites will be announced after a final review. Detailed contest plans can be found on the Ministry of SMEs and Startups website and the Small Business 24 website.
Choi Won-young, Director of the Small Business Policy Office at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "The problems of declining commercial districts and regional extinction share the same causes, and it is important for the private sector and local governments to jointly identify and solve these issues. We hope that the Regional Commercial District Vitalization Support will serve as an opportunity to draw out common problem recognition and collaboration among ministries, and we will continue to expand participating ministries and support in the future."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
