Gyeonggi-do to Invest 20 Billion Won in SME Environmental Improvements This Year

Infrastructure, Work Environment, and 2 Other Areas‥70% of Total Project Cost Supported
'Small-scale Business Environment Improvement Project'‥580 Cases in 31 Cities and Counties Underway

Gyeonggi Provincial Government Northern Office

[Asia Economy Reporter La Young-cheol] Gyeonggi Province announced on the 28th that "this year, it invested a record 20 billion KRW in improving the poor infrastructure and labor/work environments of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the province."

According to the province, the 'Small-scale Enterprise Environment Improvement Project' was carried out in 31 cities and counties this year, with a total of about 580 cases.

This year's project added support necessary for SME digitalization, considering the trend of expanding non-face-to-face economic systems triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak from China, such as establishing video conference rooms, installing wireless fire detectors, and building conveyor workstations.

As a result, the corporate self-payment ratio was lowered from 40% to 30%, reducing the financial burden on SMEs.

The 'Labor Environment and Work Environment Improvement Project' supports improvements such as dormitories, restrooms, or workshop floors, and LED lighting. This year, 95 companies benefited from labor environment improvements, and a total of 454 companies benefited from work environment improvements.

In particular, to improve workers' welfare and maintain stable employment, the support limit for dormitory construction was raised from 30 million KRW to 50 million KRW, focusing on reducing the financial burden on SMEs and alleviating manpower shortages.

In the 'Infrastructure Improvement' sector, targeting SME-dense areas and aging knowledge industry centers, 25 projects were promoted this year, benefiting about 239 companies with improvements in roads, water and sewage systems, parking lots, etc.

Through the 'Knowledge Industry Center Labor Environment Improvement,' 10 projects were completed, benefiting a total of about 1,740 companies.

No Tae-jong, Director of the Specialized Enterprise Support Division of the province, said, "This project is the one with the greatest interest and response from companies, as it improves the poor facilities of SMEs and enhances workers' welfare. We will continue to cooperate with cities and counties to continuously improve the labor and work environments of SMEs."

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