Daejeon City Expands Support for Small Businesses Before Chuseok, Allocates 116.6 Billion Won

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City announced on the 17th that it will allocate a budget of 116.6 billion KRW to expand support for small business owners before Chuseok.

The budget to be executed includes 109.3 billion KRW secured through the second supplementary budget this year. With this budget, the city plans to provide small business owners with interest-free loans of up to 20 million KRW through a 120 billion KRW Small Business Balanced Growth Special Guarantee program this month.

Additionally, priority support and additional guarantee benefits will be provided to first-time users of the Credit Guarantee Foundation, Ontong Daejeon affiliated businesses, and those whose sales have decreased compared to the previous year.

For businesses directly affected by the Level 4 social distancing restrictions, including gathering bans and business operation limits (approximately 34,000 businesses), 500,000 KRW for public utility charges will be provided, and businesses that have maintained employees for more than three months will receive 500,000 KRW per business for social insurance premiums.

The city plans to increase the issuance amount of Ontong Daejeon from 1.3 trillion KRW to 2 trillion KRW to respond to consumption contraction.

Furthermore, an additional 5% Ontong Daejeon cashback will be given to vulnerable consumer groups such as those aged 65 and over, persons with disabilities, and national merit recipients. To reduce consumption disparities between regions, an additional 3% cashback will be provided when paying with Ontong Daejeon at traditional markets.

Support will also be provided to minimize blind spots by simultaneously promoting smart supermarket development for 15 stores in 4 districts, spreading smart store technology in the Jungang-ro underground shopping mall, and supporting alley economy recovery projects to revitalize shopping districts.

Support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will also be strengthened before Chuseok. Considering difficulties in workforce supply due to COVID-19 and the implementation of the 52-hour workweek system, 10.6 billion KRW will be spent on a project that supports up to 90% of new employment wages for three months, creating about 2,000 jobs. Additionally, 5.3 billion KRW will be provided to offer temporary public jobs, aiming to support the management and livelihood stability of SMEs.

Mayor Heo Tae-jung of Daejeon said, “This support policy (budget) will be executed before Chuseok to assist local small business owners struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic,” and added, “The city will continue to actively discover and promptly implement policies needed on the ground to provide practical help to small business owners.”

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