Gangwon-do Expands '333 Fund' Loan Institutions to Local Agricultural and Livestock Cooperatives

Agreement Signed with Participating Organizations in the 'Employment Social Responsibility System'

Gangwon-do Type Employment Social Responsibility System Job Creation Maintenance Fund Support Business Agreement [Provided by Gangwon-do]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Gangwon Province is expanding the '333 Fund' loan institutions under the Gangwon-type Employment Social Responsibility System to include local agricultural and livestock cooperatives.

The '333 Fund' is a Gangwon-type job policy that provides a loan support of 30 million KRW for each new regular employee hired and offers a 30% incentive if employment is maintained for 3 years.

According to the province on the 10th, the current '333 Fund' loan institutions include 5 banks (NongHyup, Shinhan, Kookmin, Woori, Hana) with 86 branches, 79 local agricultural and livestock cooperatives (284 branches), and 6 branches of Industrial Bank of Korea, totaling 376 institutions.

To this end, the province signed an agreement on the 9th to expand the program to Industrial Bank of Korea and local agricultural and livestock cooperatives. As a result, companies using these financial institutions as their main banks can now apply for the '333 Fund' more conveniently.

In particular, since local-level agricultural and livestock cooperatives can now handle loans, not only businesses located in distant towns and townships but also customers using the funds will no longer have to travel long distances to receive loans, alleviating inconvenience.

Meanwhile, the employment creation and maintenance fund (333 Fund) loans began accepting applications in June following the project announcement in April, and the project is being promoted with strong support from small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners in the province.

Most small and medium-sized enterprises that previously had difficulty obtaining loans due to exceeding the guarantee limit can now receive support benefits. Additionally, the retirement date criteria related to re-employment of the same person after the existing worker’s retirement have been clarified to apply after the initial announcement (April 16).

The program also includes provisions recognizing exceptions for those not enrolled in the four major social insurances who are inevitably excluded due to laws and guidelines.

Kim Myung-jung, Deputy Governor for Economy of Gangwon Province, said, "We deeply appreciate the banks’ decision to support the province’s policy implementation with low-interest loans during these difficult times," adding, "I hope many small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners will use the 333 Fund to provide quality jobs and achieve full employment."

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