Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "Deploying All Resources and Capabilities to Minimize Regional Economic Damage"

Held an Emergency On-Site Meeting with Economic Organizations Related to COVID-19

On the afternoon of the 10th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, attended an emergency on-site meeting of economic institutions and organizations responding to the novel coronavirus held in the large conference room on the 7th floor of the Seo-gu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, discussing measures to minimize damage to the local economy. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held an emergency on-site meeting with local economic organizations to minimize the damage to the regional economy caused by the novel coronavirus infection.

On the 10th, Mayor Lee held a meeting at the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry with 22 related economic organizations and groups, including the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gwangju Employers Federation, Gwangju Bank, Kookmin Bank, Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise, Merchants Federation, Gwangju Tourism Association, Accommodation Association, Trade Association, Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, and the Gwangju branch of the Korea Foodservice Industry Association.

The meeting was organized to assess the damage situation to the regional economy caused by the spread of the coronavirus, directly listen to the difficulties and suggestions from the field, and establish preemptive and practical countermeasures.

Participants such as the Tourism Association and the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise stated, “The scale of damage to small business owners is gradually increasing due to consumption contraction caused by the spread of the infectious disease,” and requested, “Since the damage is particularly high in the travel, food service, and accommodation industries, we hope that support for operating funds and expansion of special guarantees will be strengthened.”

They also noted that local small and medium-sized enterprises, already struggling due to Japanese export regulations and global economic slowdown, are expected to face even greater difficulties from this damage, urging the city and related organizations to jointly prepare practical policies such as special financial support and local tax support to empower local companies.

In response, Mayor Lee Yong-seop instructed measures to minimize regional economic damage by consolidating administrative power and community capabilities, and explained various support measures currently being implemented by Gwangju City.

First, Gwangju City has been operating a regional economic countermeasure situation room related to the novel coronavirus since the 3rd. The Vice Mayor for Culture and Economy heads the team, monitoring local economic trends and promoting preemptive responses in cooperation with related organizations and autonomous districts.

As economic support measures, the city has been providing 230 billion KRW in management stabilization funds for small and medium enterprises since the 29th of last month, and since the 3rd, has expanded special guarantee support worth a total of 30 billion KRW for companies affected by the infectious disease. The special discount for the Win-Win Card to support small business owners has also been in operation since last month.

On the 12th, the city will provide special guarantees worth 43.2 billion KRW for neighborhood commercial districts, and from the 14th, it will provide early support of 2.5 billion KRW in structural improvement funds for small and medium distribution businesses.

Additionally, the city plans to implement various economic revitalization and support policies, including expanding and early supporting export promotion funds, urgent early execution in economic revitalization sectors, and emergency injection of contingency funds and fund capital.

Regarding the coronavirus, a one-stop support center that can comprehensively guide various support systems from ministries, local governments, and related economic organizations will be established and temporarily operated at the Gwangju Economic and Employment Promotion Agency.

Along with this, the city will focus on cracking down on unfair practices such as illegal price hikes centered on related supplies like masks and hand sanitizers to maintain a sound market order and alleviate the economic burden on citizens.

Private financial institutions attending this meeting also prepared countermeasures for affected companies. Gwangju Bank and Kookmin Bank announced that they will jointly strive to resolve financial difficulties by implementing their own financial support programs, including new loans, interest rate reductions, and deferred payment requests.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, “Let us unite the capabilities of the local community to overcome the crisis and minimize the contraction of the local livelihood economy caused by the novel coronavirus infection,” and added, “We will maintain a close cooperative system with related local economic organizations to promote livelihood economy measures.”

He continued, “The novel coronavirus can be prevented by following proper daily life rules, and even if infected, it is fully treatable, so please do not be excessively anxious and continue normal economic activities.”

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