Mokpo City Goes All Out to Minimize COVID-19 Community Impact

Interest Support and Loan Guarantee for Small Business Owners

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Ki-dong] Mokpo City, Jeollanam-do announced on the 16th that while it is making every effort to block the local spread of COVID-19 through strengthened quarantine measures and emergency medical system inspections, it is also focusing administrative power on revitalizing the local economy, which has been severely impacted by weakened consumer sentiment.

With the extension of the designation period for the employment crisis area, which Mokpo City has strongly requested to the government and continuously promoted since last year, confirmed until the end of this year, it is expected to greatly help the local economy.

Currently, to minimize economic damage and recession caused by COVID-19, the city has formed an economic response task force team (5 teams, 15 members) and prepared city-level support measures in five areas: small business owners, industry and SMEs, employment and jobs, local tourism, and finance and tax support.

For small business owners, the city will contribute 200 million KRW in special funds to the Jeonnam Credit Guarantee Foundation to prepare special credit guarantee funds for small business loans with weak collateral exclusively for Mokpo citizens.

For small business owners and self-employed persons affected by COVID-19, interest of up to 1% per annum on loans up to 30 million KRW received from financial institutions through the Credit Guarantee Foundation will also be supported.

The city is promoting the additional issuance of Mokpo Love Gift Certificates worth 15 billion KRW, and to maximize the issuance effect, the discount rate will be raised to 10% (currently 6%) for a certain period.

Also, to increase sales in the local dining industry, the city hall cafeteria is closed one day a week, and efforts are being made to revitalize the local commercial district, such as continuing traditional market shopping for four consecutive weeks.

In particular, the ‘Good Landlord Movement’ promoted for small tenant merchants has received 20 cases involving rent reductions for about 200 stores as of the 13th, bringing a warm breeze to the frozen local economy.

Going forward, the city is reviewing local tax (property tax) reduction support for good landlords, so the ‘Good Landlord Movement’ is expected to gain momentum and spread throughout the city.

Furthermore, the city is accelerating the execution of local finances in the first half of the year, while continuously discovering and promoting small but practical projects such as supporting public utility fees for stores in city-funded institutions, free opening of public parking lots, extending lunch hour parking enforcement exemption times, and reducing water and sewage fees for public institution rental buildings.

A Mokpo city official said, “We cannot neglect either safety or the economy, so we are responding with full force. While personal preventive measures must be strictly followed, excessive anxiety and contraction are unnecessary,” and added, “We ask for your trust and cooperation with the government and the city as you have done so far.”

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