"Order Food 4 Times and Get 10,000 Won Refund"... Promotion of Online Use for Dining Coupons

'15th Innovation Growth Strategy Review Meeting' Held on the 30th

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Lee Okwon, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated, "To minimize the damage to self-employed individuals and cultural artists, we will promote non-face-to-face and online use of dining and performance coupons."

On the 30th, Vice Minister Lee held the "15th Innovation Growth Strategy Review Meeting" at the Government Seoul Office and announced this.

'10,000 KRW Refund' on 4th Use of Delivery App Orders Over 20,000 KRW... Focus on Stimulating Consumption

Vice Minister Lee said, "Dining coupons will resume discounts for food orders through delivery apps," adding, "If you order food worth more than 20,000 KRW through a delivery app, after three uses, you will receive a 10,000 KRW refund on the fourth use."

He continued, "Performance coupons will start offering discounts for paid online performances," explaining, "An 8,000 KRW discount will be supported when booking musicals and other performances, with discounts applicable up to twice per person per month and up to four tickets per session." After prior preparations with credit card companies and online platforms, payments are scheduled to begin in May, and related ministries will provide further guidance through separate press releases.

Regarding the industrial activity trends announced that day for the first quarter, he evaluated, "This is a meaningful result that once again confirms the recovery trend of our economy following the first quarter GDP and April consumer and business sentiment indices." According to the industrial activity trends released by Statistics Korea, total industrial production increased by 0.8% month-on-month last month. Retail sales, indicating consumption, rose by 2.3%, and construction investment also showed a 0.4% increase. The coincident index of economic indicators, reflecting the current economy, rose by 0.5 points to 100.2 compared to the previous month, while the leading index, predicting future economic conditions, increased by 0.2 points to 103.1.

Vice Minister Lee assessed, "Looking at the entire first quarter, this recovery trend is even more evident," noting that production, consumption, and investment indicators have maintained an increasing trend for more than two quarters, with the growth rate expanding compared to the previous quarter. He added, "The government will concentrate all policy capabilities to achieve annual growth of mid-to-high 3%."

Financial Support for Small Business Owners, Training 180,000 Skilled Workers Over Next 5 Years

Regarding financial support for small business owners, he stated, "By the first quarter of this year, 143.3 trillion KRW in maturity extensions and 10.3 trillion KRW in repayment deferrals have been completed," adding, "We will also make thorough efforts to support low-income groups and vulnerable borrowers who have difficulty accessing formal financial institutions."

Vice Minister Lee also said, "We are conducting essential vocational training for the era of industrial transformation, such as K-Digital Training and K-Digital Credit," and pledged, "We will train 180,000 skilled workers over the next five years." He emphasized, "Through the allocation of cross-ministerial budgets for new technology workforce training, we will continuously discover new projects to cover blind spots in education and training." Additionally, efforts will be made to convert 2,835 buildings into green smart future schools over the next five years.

Meanwhile, he forecasted that the possibility of consumer prices exceeding 2% annually is limited. Regarding the April consumer price outlook, Vice Minister Lee said, "Due to the base effect of the unusually low price level caused by COVID-19 in the second quarter of last year, prices are expected to temporarily exceed 2%," adding, "However, the possibility of exceeding the 2% inflation target for the entire year is limited." Accordingly, the government stated it will continue efforts to stabilize living costs to prevent temporary price increases from leading to inflation expectations.

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