Gwangju Seo-gu Receives Positive Response for Small Business Support Projects Including Small-Scale Facility Improvement Costs

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dong-ho] Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim I-gang) is achieving significant results in projects supporting small business owners who are struggling due to COVID-19 and other challenges.

According to Seo-gu on the 4th, the ‘Small Business Hope Guide Support Project,’ which started last March to connect small-scale facility improvements and management consulting for small business operators, was highly popular with 86 applications received.

Seo-gu selected a total of 51 businesses based on the necessity of the project and the effectiveness of management improvement, including 24 restaurants and cafes, and invested about 100 million KRW in the budget. Each location received up to 2 million KRW to support facility improvements such as external sign maintenance and installation of essential facilities like restrooms, along with management consulting.

Additionally, the ‘Small Business Special Guarantee Project,’ funded by Seo-gu Office and Gwangju Bank and operated through the Gwangju Credit Guarantee Foundation, which supports operating funds and interest differences for small business owners lacking collateral, is nearly exhausting its 1.8 billion KRW loan capacity.

Seo-gu plans to reflect 200 million KRW of special grants received from last year’s public project evaluation in the supplementary budget, seeing the need to expand this project. With contributions from financial institutions, the additional support funds are expected to exceed 3 billion KRW.

In response to the sharp decline in offline sales, which form the sales base of small business owners, Seo-gu is also promoting the ‘Small Business Online Business Support Project’ to comprehensively support their entry into online shopping platforms.

Through this project conducted in partnership with local broadcasters, it is expected to provide professional and efficient support including business promotion, education, consulting, market development related to online markets, and even show hosts for live commerce.

Along with this, the installation of the ‘Small Business Support Control Tower’ and ‘Small Business Vitality Support Center,’ which are campaign pledges of Mayor Kim I-gang, is expected to accelerate.

This center, which will professionally handle management and financial support for small business owners as well as revitalization of local commercial districts, is currently undergoing ordinance amendments to establish its legal basis and is expected to be opened near densely populated commercial areas within Seo-gu.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dong-ho baekok@asiae.co.kr

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