"Minimizing Economic Damage from COVID-19"… Gyeonggi-do Improves Procedures for 79 Projects

[Asia Economy (Uijeongbu) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is significantly simplifying the support procedures for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners to minimize damage caused by the spread of 'COVID-19'. The province previously requested government funding for the expected guarantee loss of 51.1 billion KRW arising from the COVID-19 special guarantee.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 5th, the province will first extend the project application periods for SMEs and small business owners or change face-to-face evaluations to written or online formats. In addition, the timing of selection evaluations, briefings, and training sessions will be postponed from the original schedule.

The target projects include a total of 79 projects worth 67.6 billion KRW operated by Gyeonggi Province this year, such as ▲ Alley Market Organization Project ▲ Furniture Exhibition Participation Support Project ▲ Technology Startup Support Program. Among these, 27 projects, including the Gyeonggi-type Workplace Innovation Support Project, will have extended application periods. The selection evaluation timing for 21 projects, such as technology transfer startup support, will be delayed.

Furthermore, 25 projects, including skilled construction workforce training, Gyeonggi Industrial Technology Education Center, and Small Business Owners Festival, will have their implementation periods postponed. Twenty projects, such as university startup support linked to regional specialized projects and Gyeonggi Business Center support, will switch from face-to-face evaluations to written and online evaluations.

The province has decided to omit the 'on-site inspection' required when applying for the 'COVID-19 special guarantee' to enable faster fund circulation.

Previously, the province proposed to the government to subsidize national funds for an estimated loss of 50 billion KRW due to the implementation of the COVID-19 special guarantee and 1.1 billion KRW in labor costs for hiring 100 short-term support personnel at the Regional Credit Guarantee Foundation.

Kim Gyu-sik, Director of Economic Planning at the province, stated, "We expect that this measure will enable support for SMEs and small business owners to be provided more quickly and safely," adding, "We will continue to implement bold and proactive measures to minimize damage caused by COVID-19."

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