Gyeonggi-do Expands 'Recovery Funds' for SMEs and Small Business Owners

"Focus on Practical Support for Small and Medium Enterprise Management Conditions"

Photos of the opening of the Small Business Joint Infrastructure Facility in Hwaseong City [Provided by Gyeonggi Province]

[Asia Economy Reporter La Young-cheol] Gyeonggi Province is expanding recovery funds this year to help small business owners and SMEs in the province overcome COVID-19.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 1st, the province plans to adjust the '2021 SME Development Fund' totaling 2 trillion won and expand the operation of the recovery fund sector.

To this end, it adjusted reserve funds and increased the recovery funds for small business owners (400 billion won) and SMEs (300 billion won) by 210 billion won and 150 billion won respectively, expanding them to 610 billion won and 450 billion won.

This is a preemptive measure in anticipation of increased funding demand from SMEs and small business owners for facility reinvestment and workforce expansion.

In addition to the recovery funds, the province is preparing for the post-COVID-19 era by allocating 200 billion won to support Gyeonggi-type New Deal companies (Employment New Deal, Digital New Deal, Green New Deal), 30 billion won to support export-oriented companies, and 40 billion won to support youth innovative startups.

Currently, the province supports a total of 14,070 companies with 1.0545 trillion won through SME development funds, including 13,831 companies with 805 billion won for operating funds and 239 companies with 249.5 billion won for startup and competitiveness enhancement funds.

This represents a 1.62-fold increase in the number of companies and a 1.34-fold increase in support amount compared to the same period last year (8,693 companies, 788.3 billion won).

The Business Survey Index (BSI) for manufacturing companies in the province maintained an upward trend, rising from '82' in April to '86' in May due to expectations of economic recovery, and the non-manufacturing sector also rose from '64' in April to '73' in May.

The Consumer Confidence Index (CCSI) has been on the rise for four consecutive months since December last year (Source: Bank of Korea).

Kim Do-hyung, head of the Regional Finance Division, stated, "The change in fund operation focuses on practically helping SMEs' management conditions in preparation for the post-COVID-19 era."

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