Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry Welcomes Special Support Fund Prepared by Bank of Korea Gyeongnam Headquarters

Special Support Fund of 631.4 Billion Won Allocated, Effective from February 1

Choi Jae-ho, Chairman of the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Kim Jeong-hoon, Head of the Bank of Korea Gyeongnam Headquarters, discussed ways to promote win-win cooperation between local companies and financial institutions in the chairman's office of the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

At the meeting held on the 24th, Chairman Choi expressed his welcome on behalf of the local business community upon hearing the news that the Bank of Korea Gyeongnam Headquarters will operate a temporary special support fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (local SME support fund) for six months starting February 1.

Choi Jae-ho, Chairman of the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Kim Jung-hoon, Head of the Bank of Korea Gyeongnam Branch, met to discuss ways to promote mutual cooperation.

This special support fund was established to alleviate the financial burden on SMEs in the Gyeongnam region, which are struggling due to the continued high interest rate environment.

The scale of the special support fund additionally provided by the Bank of Korea Gyeongnam Headquarters through commercial banks is 631.4 billion KRW, which is larger than the regular support fund of 589.4 billion KRW. It is expected that this will generate an additional 1.5 trillion KRW in related SME loan support.

The local SME support fund applies a procurement interest rate of 2.0%, which is lower than the base rate (3.5%), supplying funds to commercial banks, which then provide low-interest loans to SMEs up to 1 billion KRW.

Eligible applicants are SMEs and individual business owners with business locations in the Gyeongnam region. However, SMEs with good financing capacity (grades 1 to 3) and certain industries such as bars, finance and insurance, real estate, and gambling are excluded.

Meanwhile, the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry has previously requested an increase in the limit of the SME support fund through key channels such as the Gyeongsangnam-do financial institutions meeting, citing financing as the biggest risk for local companies this year.

Chairman Choi said, “This special support fund operated by the Bank of Korea Gyeongnam Headquarters is expected to greatly help local companies seek new opportunities and revitalize the economy. I hope local companies actively utilize this fund.” He added, “I also express my gratitude for activities that aim to engage with the region, such as the recent workshop for new employees of the Bank of Korea headquarters held in the Gyeongnam area.”

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