Pohang Game Steadily Reviving Despite COVID-19 Challenges

Mobile and Card-Type Pohang Sarang Gift Certificates Launched, Samsung Pay Payment to Be Introduced Next Year

Comprehensive Goal of the 7th Elected Term Exceeded by 149%, Creating Over 37,000 Jobs

Pohang City Hall, Gyeongbuk.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Intern Reporter Lee Seryeong] Despite the prolonged COVID-19 situation, the economy of Pohang, Gyeongbuk is recovering.

On the 16th, Pohang City announced that consumer sentiment index is rising with citizens' expectations for economic recovery, and the local economy has entered a recovery phase.

The city analyzed that the steady increase in production and export volume of the Pohang Steel Industrial Complex, the rise in service industry users, and the increase in seafood production compared to the same month last year are results of the revival of local real economy indicators.

Based on the quarantine system, the city has implemented economic measures to respond to crises for small business owners and self-employed individuals, as well as policies to revitalize the local economy such as creating public jobs for youth.

In October, the city secured its own budget to provide targeted support to industries restricted by social distancing and small-scale small business owners, distributing disaster relief funds totaling 12.2 billion KRW to about 31,000 businesses.

In the first half of this year, as part of the emergency relief support project for COVID-19 affected industries, the city delivered 10.2 billion KRW in support funds to about 9,700 local businesses, and throughout this year, a total of approximately 22.4 billion KRW in Pohang-type disaster relief funds were provided.

The Pohang Love Gift Certificate was issued in the amount of 390 billion KRW, and in the second half of the year, Pohang Love card-type and mobile-type gift certificates were launched.

Next year, the city plans to be the first in Gyeongbuk to introduce Samsung Pay payment method to enhance citizen convenience and increase sales for small business owners.

With a budget of 20.5 billion KRW allocated to 40 youth policy projects, the city aims to encourage youth settlement in the region, discover youth-preferred policies to expand jobs, and organize a youth policy coordination committee.

The Gyeongbuk Content Enterprise Support Center, which opened in December this year, is accelerating efforts to make Pohang a better place for youth by fostering a youth-centered cultural content industry.

The city actively discovered over 30,700 jobs, exceeding the target of 20,590 jobs set by the public job disclosure system in the 7th local government comprehensive plan by 149%.

By next year, the city plans to invest a total of 23.9 billion KRW in projects to supply city gas and LPG small storage tanks to rural areas without city gas, reducing fuel cost burdens and improving quality of life.

With the goal of providing energy welfare benefits to 99% of all citizens within the next 10 years, the city is also accelerating efforts to resolve welfare imbalances.

Mayor Lee Gangdeok stated, “Next year is an important period for overcoming the economic crisis and economic rebound, and the role of a catalyst for restoring the livelihood economy is very important. We will focus all efforts on economic recovery so that citizens can safely engage in consumption activities under a robust quarantine system.”

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