Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Provides Additional 40 Billion Won Support to Sports Industry Hit by COVID-19
Expansion of Loans, Promotion of Non-Face-to-Face Sports Market, and Support for Private Sports Facility Usage Fees
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 28th that it will implement additional support measures worth approximately 40 billion KRW, including expanding loans to sports companies struggling due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
First, to resolve the shortage of operating funds for sports companies, an additional 20 billion KRW in sports loans will be provided. Following the special loan of 50 billion KRW implemented in March, there was high demand from companies, and the supply could not meet the demand. This additional loan support will be implemented from July after the National Assembly’s supplementary budget review in the first half of the year.
According to an urgent survey on the damage status of the sports industry due to COVID-19 conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in April, sales in sectors subject to closure recommendations such as fitness centers and sports dojangs decreased by 91.3% and 81.0% respectively compared to the previous year, indicating significant damage. Accordingly, in consultation with related ministries, additional support measures were prepared to help the sports industry overcome the management crisis and respond to market changes after COVID-19.
For private sports facility operators, support will be provided to redesign businesses based on online and non-face-to-face platforms, foster convergence personnel, and build platforms for content aggregation and distribution. The detailed support scale will be finalized after the National Assembly’s supplementary budget review in the first half of this year.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will also support private indoor sports facility usage fees worth approximately 30,000 KRW per person for a total of 400,000 people to encourage sports activities among citizens, which have been reduced due to COVID-19, and to revitalize the sports market. The timing of this project will be decided considering the trend of COVID-19 infection spread and quarantine conditions.
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In addition, the '2020 Sports Overseas Internship Program' will be converted into a domestic training program and prioritized for support to companies affected by COVID-19 (about 70 people). The temporarily suspended sports company export consultation meeting (SPOEX) is scheduled to be held in August in a non-face-to-face format. Furthermore, the National Sports Promotion Act will be amended to allow small businesses with insufficient collateral to receive sports industry loans solely with credit guarantees, and income tax deductions for usage fees in the sports facility sector will be discussed with related ministries.
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