Gyeonggi-do Basic Income Introduced at Workshop with Participants from 7 Countries, Drawing Attention

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi-do's basic income policies, including disaster basic income and local currency, were introduced at the "Universal Basic Income Workshop," which involved participation from countries around the world.

Yoon Young-mi, Director of Vision Strategy at Gyeonggi-do, gave a presentation titled "Gyeonggi-do Basic Income Policy Cases" during the South Korea presentation section of the "Universal Basic Income Workshop," held online at 8 a.m. on the 25th.

The "Universal Basic Income Workshop" was organized by the Jain Family Institute in the United States, a joint research institution for the basic income experiment project in Maric? City, Brazil, and Fluminense Federal University in Brazil. The event aimed to share research findings along with experiences, policies, and strategies related to basic income from various countries. Seven countries participated in this workshop, including South Korea, the United States, Brazil, Spain, Finland, Mexico, and Kenya.

Director Yoon emphasized the importance of basic income as an answer to the era of income polarization caused by technological advancement and jobless economic growth, explaining the effects observed through the provision of disaster basic income in Gyeonggi-do.

She stated, "The greatest feature of Gyeonggi-do's basic income is the combination of basic income and local currency," adding, "The local currency, which is limited in terms of validity period and usage locations, played a role as a catalyst for virtuous circulation in the local economy by immediately stimulating consumption."

She further added, "In particular, it revitalized traditional markets and small business owners, which can be considered the lifeblood of the low-income economy, thereby proving not only the activation of the local economy but also the psychological effectiveness of restoring consumer confidence."

Leandro Ferreira, head of the Brazilian Basic Income Network, served as the chair for the Gyeonggi-do presentation, with Steve Nu?ez, director of the Jain Family Institute in the United States, participating as a panelist.

Positive evaluations followed regarding Gyeonggi-do's case, which led economic revitalization through proactive responses during the COVID-19 disaster situation.

There were also various questions and discussions about the specific procedures and effects of disaster basic income provision, difficulties encountered during policy implementation, methods for securing basic income funding, and directions for basic income policy.

The Jain Family Institute, which hosted this event, is an applied social science research institution located in New York that focuses on research into "guaranteed income," a means of continuous and unconditional cash transfers to individuals or households.

Fluminense Federal University is a prestigious university in Brazil operating the largest number of regional campuses among Brazilian universities. It conducts ongoing research on the basic income experiment project in Maric? City, Brazil.

Gyeonggi-do is forming a global consensus and focusing attention on basic income through this presentation, following the international conference of the Indonesian Basic Income Society in January and the American Society for Public Administration conference in April.

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