Gwangju Chamber of Commerce: 73.8% of Local Manufacturers Suffered 'COVID-19 Damage'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Chairman Jeong Chang-seon) announced on the 27th that, as a result of a survey conducted from the 2nd to the 13th targeting 130 manufacturing companies in the Gwangju area regarding the 'Impact of COVID-19 Damage,' 73.8% of the companies reported being affected by the spread of COVID-19.

In terms of damage patterns, 'Sales decline due to domestic demand contraction' accounted for the largest share at 35.3%, followed by 'Export decrease (15.5%)', 'Financial crunch (13.9%)', and 'Difficulty in procuring Chinese parts and materials (12.8%)'.

In fact, the proportion of respondents who reported a decrease in sales in the first quarter of this year compared to the fourth quarter of last year was the highest at 65.4%, and the expected scale of sales decline was an average decrease of 22.3% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.

Regarding sales forecasts for the second quarter, 53.8% of respondents expected sales to 'decrease compared to the first quarter,' which was the largest share.

Regarding financing performance, 51.5% of respondents said that the financing conditions in the first quarter 'worsened compared to the previous quarter,' which was the largest share, and 46.2% expected the financing conditions in the second quarter to 'worsen compared to the first quarter.'

When comparing the degree of industrial site damage felt by local manufacturing companies to past epidemics (MERS, SARS), 63.8% responded that 'the damage is greater than past epidemics,' 23.8% said 'similar to past epidemics,' and only 12.3% said 'less than past epidemics.'

Regarding the mid- to long-term impact of COVID-19 on our society, 33.5% cited '(structural reform, etc.) mid- to long-term issue entrenchment,' 32.6% cited 'widespread social distrust,' followed by 'China phobia (16.3%)', 'value chain diversification (12.1%)', and 'others (5.6%).'

The most necessary policies to minimize COVID-19 damage and restore economic vitality were 'financial and tax support' at 35.6%, followed by 'diplomatic efforts to resume operations (18.6%)', 'postponement of corporate investigations (fair trade, tax audits, etc.) (18.2%)', 'incentives for domestic demand and tourism recovery (15.5%)', 'regulatory reforms related to services and new industries (7.6%)', and 'others (4.5%).'

Meanwhile, the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been operating a 'COVID-19 Damage Reporting Center for Companies' since February for companies suffering damage due to COVID-19, and plans to use this as data to discover and propose government support policies.

For related proposals and other inquiries, please contact the Planning and Research Headquarters of the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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