Gyeonggi-do Forms TF to Respond to New Coronavirus... Operates 4 Subcommittees Including Jobs

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has formed a task force (TF) to minimize economic damage caused by the spread of the 'novel coronavirus' infection.

On the 3rd, Gyeonggi Province announced that it held a video conference of the 'Gyeonggi Province Novel Coronavirus Infection Response Economic TF' at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Disaster Situation Room, with about 50 participants including officials from the province, cities and counties, provincial public institutions, and expert advisory groups.

The TF was established to maintain close cooperation with 31 cities and counties and public institutions within the province until the novel coronavirus is contained, in order to minimize economic damage to local businesses and small merchants.

The TF is led by the Director of the Economic Office as head and the Economic Planning Officer as deputy head, and is composed of four divisions: ▲Jobs ▲Small Merchants ▲Corporate Support ▲Export Support.

The 'Jobs' division includes the Job and Economic Policy Division, Gyeonggi Research Institute, and Job Foundation, responsible for overall response measures, trend monitoring, and job policies.

The Small Merchants division includes the Small Merchants Division and Market and Commercial Promotion Agency, responsible for responding to damages to small merchants and revitalizing traditional markets.

The Corporate Support division includes the Specialized Corporate Support Division, Gyeonggi Economic Science Promotion Agency, Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation, and Gyeonggi Corporation, handling areas such as support for small and medium enterprises' damage response and financial assistance.

The Export Support division includes the Foreign Affairs and Trade Division, Investment Promotion Division, and Gyeonggi Economic Science Promotion Agency, planning to support export-import activities of local companies and investment activities of foreign-invested companies.

The province has designated the directors in charge of regional economy in 31 cities and counties as responsible persons to monitor urgent economic trends in each region daily.

The TF will hold regular weekly meetings and ad hoc meetings when issues arise, establishing an organic cooperation system to prepare effective short- and long-term response measures.

The province plans to request policy cooperation from the central government and related institutions if necessary.

In particular, at this meeting, it was agreed to strictly respond to market order disturbances such as hoarding and fake news, and to promptly execute budgets related to the regional economy in the first half of the year to proactively respond to economic damage caused by the coronavirus.

Kim Gyu-sik, Economic Planning Officer of the province, stated, "We plan to respond proactively, swiftly, and accurately to minimize regional economic damage caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection," adding, "Especially, we will take preemptive measures for relatively vulnerable sectors such as small and medium enterprises and small merchants."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.