Incheon City Minimizes Regional Economic Impact from Omicron... Establishes Incheon e-eum Ecosystem and Supports Small Businesses

Incheon City Hall

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City is focusing its administrative efforts on job creation and economic infrastructure development to minimize the regional economic impact caused by Omicron.

According to the city on the 5th, first, to continuously promote 'Incheon e-eum,' a representative policy of the 7th local government term and a major contributor to regional economic revitalization, efforts will be concentrated on building a platform ecosystem.

The city will maintain a 10% cashback for the time being and actively consider issuing consumption coupons by revising ordinances related to local love gift certificates to further boost the use of Incheon e-eum.

Plans are also underway to expand the issuance of Incheon e-eum-based local community and tenant company exclusive specialized cards linked to surrounding commercial districts.

Currently, Incheon e-eum has 2.27 million subscribers, with a cumulative issuance amount of 8.0054 trillion KRW and a cumulative transaction amount of 9.2095 trillion KRW. Additional services such as Delivery e-eum, Benefit Plus, Sharing e-eum, and Incheon Direct Purchase are also receiving great responses.

The city will also provide a special support fund of 250,000 KRW per business to small self-employed business owners suffering from prolonged COVID-19-related management difficulties.

The support targets 276,000 businesses with annual sales of 300 million KRW or less that registered their business in Incheon before December 31 of last year, with a total support fund of 69 billion KRW.

Notably, the support includes not only small business owners in industries subject to gathering bans and business restrictions but also small self-employed business owners who have temporarily closed or shut down due to prolonged COVID-19 hardships.

The city plans to focus on job creation and revitalizing the startup ecosystem, which will serve as a catalyst for Incheon’s economic leap forward.

Along with establishing a mid- to long-term roadmap for industry-tailored job policies, the city will steadily proceed with building the 'Bio Process Workforce Training Center,' which will play a significant role in job creation.

To make Incheon a 'great place to start a business,' the city will nurture and support youth startups and startup companies through Dream Up Valley (Startup Village Dreamchon), Startup Park, and K-Bio Lab Hub, while also dedicating efforts to building related infrastructure.

The city will also actively work on expanding the Songdo Bio Cluster, strengthening the value chain, and establishing core infrastructure for new industries.

To this end, Incheon plans to attract global leading companies in the advanced biopharmaceutical field and create a foundation for nurturing medium-sized and small enterprises, securing a sustainable growth base through diversification in scale and industry types.

Additionally, emphasis will be placed on expanding cultural and tourism infrastructure, including the construction of the second phase of 'Art Center Incheon'?which will feature a large performance hall and museum following the first phase concert hall?the development of ten major nighttime scenic spots in the Incheon Free Economic Zone, and the integration of the Yeongjong complex resort.

Furthermore, efforts will be made to expand urban infrastructure such as the underground road at Songdo International City Block 11 New Port, Songdo Bridge 5, GTX-B transfer center, and smart city-based services and infrastructure. The city will also focus on normalizing large-scale projects including the development of Songdo Blocks 6 and 8, Cheongna Medical Complex Town, Cheongna Video Culture Production Complex, Cheongna City Tower, and Lotte Songdo Mall.

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