Jinju City Council Member Kyunghoon Oh Proposes 'Local Product Purchase Promotion Ordinance'

Establishing an Institutional Foundation to Ease Management Burdens for Small Business Owners and SMEs

At the 271st Jinju City Council extraordinary session, the ordinance bill on “Promotion of Jinju Local Product Purchases” was introduced, establishing a legal and institutional foundation to support local small business owners and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

This ordinance bill, sponsored by Kyunghoon Oh, is aimed at alleviating the difficulties faced by local SMEs and small business owners whose management burdens have increased due to the domestic market downturn and the impact of U.S. tariffs. The bill seeks to improve the purchasing structure of the public sector.

There have been concerns that, in the process of public institutions purchasing goods and services, the heavy emphasis on price has made it difficult for local companies-who are disadvantaged in terms of scale and distribution conditions-to enter the public sector market.

Kyunghoon Oh, Jinju City Council Member

To address these limitations, the ordinance includes detailed measures such as: establishing policies to promote the purchase of local products by public institutions under the city government; promoting local companies and their products; operating a joint purchasing task force; and conducting year-end evaluations and rewarding outstanding departments to further expand the purchase of local products.

Kyunghoon Oh stated, “Despite the unprecedented boom among large corporations, the local economy remains stagnant and economic polarization is deepening. Especially in times like these, we must proactively strengthen support and incentives for local companies to protect and foster them.” He added, “Promoting the purchase of local products by the public sector is an effective way to create jobs and increase tax revenue by facilitating a virtuous cycle of funds within the local community.”

Currently, 79 local governments and 7 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide have adopted similar ordinances. In Cheongju, for example, the actual purchase rate from local companies rose from 86% in 2022 to 94.6% in 2024 after the ordinance was implemented.

Oh emphasized, “Enacting this ordinance is only the first step. We must build a close cooperative system with the Jinju Chamber of Commerce and Industry, local public institutions, and the Gyeongnam Office of Education to maximize policy effectiveness and create win-win policies that instill hope in small business owners and SMEs.”

This ordinance is also expected to help local companies secure stable sales channels by expanding the use of local agricultural products, processed goods, daily necessities, and more.