Government Supports Interest Rates and Group Purchasing for Food Service Businesses... Asan, Jincheon, and Jeju Promote Food Service Revitalization

Rapid Decline in Visitors Due to COVID-19 Spread Prompts Region-Specific Support
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Announces 'Emergency Support Measures for the Food Service Industry' on the 17th

On the 10th, amid ongoing concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus infection, the domestic departure floor at Gimpo Airport in Seoul appeared quiet. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The government is taking steps to revitalize dining out in regions such as Asan, Jincheon, and Jeju, where visitor numbers have sharply declined due to the spread of COVID-19. They plan to implement events that encourage visits and produce various content to spread a positive consumption atmosphere. Additionally, efforts will be made to lower interest rates and execute stabilization funds to support the stable management of dining establishments.

On the 17th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that it has formed a dedicated COVID-19 response team for the agriculture and food sector to monitor related trends and industry difficulties. Based on feedback gathered from field meetings and public-private response team meetings, they have prepared an "Emergency Support Plan for the Dining Industry in Response to COVID-19."

First, to support dining businesses facing short-term liquidity difficulties due to decreased sales, the interest rate on dining industry development funds will be lowered by 0.5 percentage points for emergency support. The support scale will also be increased according to future demand. The policy funds that dining businesses can utilize, such as the Small Business Management Stabilization Fund (20 billion KRW) and special guarantees (100 billion KRW) newly supplied by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 12th, will be executed without delay.

The project to organize joint purchasing of food ingredients to reduce the burden of ingredient costs for dining businesses will advance the selection period for project participants from May to March and plans to support 50 dining organizations with 10 million KRW each. Tax support announced on the 5th will also be carried out.

To stimulate consumption, phased revitalization measures will be promoted mainly in regions such as Asan, Jincheon, and Jeju, where visitors have sharply decreased due to COVID-19. Various events, including a "Receipt Upload Event" that provides local gift certificates when dining receipts are submitted within the region, will be implemented. Additionally, 80 bloggers active under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will produce and promote content related to these regions. The mandatory closure system for government and local government cafeterias will be temporarily expanded, and public institutions and private companies will be encouraged to voluntarily adopt it.

The Food Festa scheduled for May will be held earlier to spread the dining consumption atmosphere nationwide. Online events such as "Finding Local Restaurants" will encourage voluntary consumer participation, and discount and promotion events for dining establishments will be jointly promoted with dining organizations. This will also be linked with traditional food promotion projects such as visiting breweries and the Korea Food Master experience program.

Furthermore, to prevent consumers from developing an aversion to dining out, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will produce and distribute 150,000 posters with customized COVID-19 response guidelines for dining establishments, including employee hygiene management and store disinfection, and conduct joint campaigns with dining organizations. Local governments will also purchase and distribute quarantine supplies necessary for hygiene management using their funds.

Minister Kim Hyunsoo of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated, "We will cooperate with related ministries to ensure that the damage to dining businesses caused by the spread of COVID-19 is minimized and that related measures are implemented without fail." He added, "As the dining industry is actively working on hygiene management, we ask the public not to have excessive anxiety and to actively use dining establishments facing difficulties."

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