Hong Nam-ki "Full Mobilization of Allocated Budget, Funds, and Contingency Funds to Support Small Business Owners" (Comprehensive)

Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting on the 16th
"Announcement of Extension for Special Employment Support in Shipbuilding Today"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] On the 16th, Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced that he would mobilize all available funds, including the existing budget, various funds, and contingency funds, to intensively support small business owners affected by strengthened quarantine measures.

On the morning of the 16th, Deputy Prime Minister Hong presided over the 50th Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting at the Government Seoul Office and said, "The government will prioritize the implementation of special year-end and New Year quarantine measures, focus on supporting small business owners and others affected, and devote all efforts to maximizing economic resilience within the scope of quarantine."

He added, "There are great concerns about the contraction of domestic demand due to the pause in phased daily recovery, but the urgent need for strict quarantine control comes first," and explained, "Regarding support for small business owners, we will mobilize the existing budget, various funds, and contingency funds to provide quarantine support payments, expand compensation for losses, and offer ultra-low interest loans, providing multi-layered maximum support."

At the Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting that day, Deputy Prime Minister Hong also mentioned the economic policy direction for next year, which is scheduled to be announced next week. He said, "2022 is a very important period as it marks the first year of returning to normal life after the COVID-19 crisis, the full-scale launch of post-COVID agendas such as digitalization and greening, and economic management spanning the current and next administrations," and explained, "The government is preparing an economic policy direction aimed at the complete normalization of our economy next year and a definite leap toward a leading economy."

He continued, "Next year's economic policy direction will be developed and arranged into five categories: ▲ leap to a normal track ▲ recovery of the livelihood economy ▲ strengthening risk management ▲ reinforcement of next-generation growth engines ▲ proactive response to future challenges," and emphasized, "Overall, under the framework of 'achieving 4% growth this year + aiming for early 3% growth next year,' we will devote all efforts until the end of the year to private consumption, investment, and fourth-quarter fiscal execution, and also concentrate all capabilities on discovering new policy tasks for next year."

Additionally, following this meeting and the Employment Policy Deliberation Committee, the government plans to decide and announce in the afternoon whether to extend the designation period of special employment support industries and employment crisis areas for the shipbuilding industry, which was extended for two years last May and is scheduled to expire at the end of this year, to overcome employment and industrial crises. Regarding this, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "We will decide considering the field's opinion that continuous policy support is essential until the business conditions clearly improve."

Moreover, at the Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting that day, plans to revitalize marine tourism through fostering the marine healing industry are also scheduled to be discussed. Deputy Prime Minister Hong stated, "The government plans to steadily promote the establishment of a marine healing industry ecosystem by developing region-specific programs and establishing marine healing centers in four areas?Wando-gun, Taean-gun, Uljin-gun, and Goseong-gun (Gyeongnam)?by 2024, as the marine healing industry is expected to emerge as a promising industry due to increased demand for healing and relaxation after COVID-19."

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