Seoul to Accept Second Round of "Emergency Urban Manufacturing Funds" Applications from July 16... Additional 4.1 Billion Won Available

A total of 1,271 companies in four major manufacturing sectors received 15.2 billion won in the first round
Second round expands to include publishing and electrical equipment manufacturers

[Asia Economy, Reporter Cho Inkyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will provide an additional 4.1 billion won in "Emergency Urban Manufacturing Funds" to support the manufacturing sector, which has been hit hard by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 14, the city announced that it will accept additional applications online for the program from 9:00 a.m. on July 16 to 6:00 p.m. on July 30. The program targets the four major manufacturing industries in Seoul-apparel and sewing, handmade shoes, printing, and machinery and metal-as well as the precious metals sector.

Each business with fewer than 50 employees can receive up to 30 million won. Companies that receive support must maintain employment for at least three months. The city expects that approximately 400 businesses will benefit from this additional round of funding.

Notably, this round of support includes small publishing manufacturers recently impacted by the bankruptcy of a major publishing wholesaler, as well as the precious metals manufacturing sector, which was excluded from the first round of applications. For the machinery and metal sector, the eligible industries have been expanded beyond those included in the first round to now also cover electronic components, computers, imaging, audio and telecommunications equipment manufacturing, medical, precision, optical instruments and clock manufacturing, and electrical equipment manufacturing. This expansion allows more companies to apply for emergency funding.

Applications can be submitted by directly entering the address (http://서울제조업긴급사업비.kr) into an internet portal. To facilitate smooth processing, the city will operate the "Urban Manufacturing Emergency Fund Integrated Application Support Center" on the 2nd floor of the Seoul Printing Center (140 Marunnae-ro, Jung-gu) from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays. Anyone wishing to apply, regardless of industry, may visit the center. Details regarding the application period, required documents, and other information can be found in the announcements section of the Seoul Metropolitan Government website.

The selected companies will be announced on August 5. The first installment of the support funds will be distributed in August, and the remaining amount will be paid after employment retention and other conditions are confirmed through monitoring.

Previously, to intensively support the manufacturing sector, the city secured a total emergency budget of 20 billion won through a supplementary budget in May, and provided 15.2 billion won to a total of 1,271 companies through the first round of the program by July 7.

Kim Euisung, Director of Economic Policy at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "In these difficult times due to COVID-19, we are conducting an additional round of applications to support more urban manufacturing businesses," adding, "We hope many people working in the manufacturing sector will apply, as we aim to process applications and selections as quickly as possible."

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