Naju City to Issue 100 Billion Won of 'Naju Sarang Gift Certificates' This Year

[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Han-hyuk Lee] Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Kang In-gyu) announced on the 5th that it plans to issue 100 billion KRW worth of Naju Sarang Gift Certificates (80% paper, 20% card), the local currency, this year to revitalize the alleyway commercial districts that have been depressed due to COVID-19.

This represents approximately a 21% increase compared to the amount of gift certificates issued and circulated last year.

Previously, last year, a total of 83.6 billion KRW worth of gift certificates circulated in the market, including 50.7 billion KRW from general sales and 32.9 billion KRW from policy distributions such as public interest allowances for farmers and fishermen, livelihood expenses for vulnerable groups, and disaster relief funds.

The city will continue to offer a 10% discount on purchases of paper and card gift certificates in the first quarter of this year.

However, corporations and organizations have been excluded from the discount application starting this year, as it was judged that their participation does not align with the purpose of issuing the gift certificates.

The Naju Sarang Gift Certificates, which can only be used at affiliated stores within the city, have played a significant role in boosting the local economy by increasing sales in alleyway commercial districts through preventing the outflow of local income.

In 2019, 4.1 billion KRW worth of gift certificates were issued, but thanks to a 10% discount on gift certificate purchases as part of overcoming COVID-19 last year, a city-wide campaign to normalize gift certificate use, and the issuance of card gift certificates, sales exceeded about 20 times that amount.

The city is working to prevent fraudulent circulation of paper gift certificates through building cooperative systems with sales agencies and continuous monitoring of the integrated computer system.

They plan to strengthen preemptive activities against fraudulent circulation by focusing on managing and cracking down on affiliated stores with high redemption amounts relative to sales.

Paper and card-type Naju Sarang Gift Certificates can be purchased and issued on the same day at 56 financial institutions including NongHyup and post offices, with a monthly limit of 700,000 KRW per individual, and can be used at about 3,100 affiliated stores within the city.

Using the card gift certificates provides a 30% income deduction benefit automatically during year-end tax settlement for office workers.

Mayor Kang In-gyu said, “Thanks to the Naju Sarang Gift Certificate usage campaign, which all citizens have participated in with one heart, the local alleyway commercial districts facing the COVID crisis have been able to breathe a little easier. Let us create hope for the local economy this new year through the use of gift certificates that make small business owners, self-employed people, and consumers all happy.”

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