Gokseong-gun Selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' 'Regional Small Business Innovation Contest'

Development of K-Gokseong Agricultural Products Utilizing Local Specialty Crops

1.2 Billion KRW Support for 2 Years Starting from 2025

Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced on the 25th that it was finally selected for the ‘Regional Small and Medium Enterprise Innovation Public Contest Project’ jointly conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 22nd.

The ‘Regional Innovation Public Contest’ is a project promoted by linking the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Local Extinction Response Fund Project (HW) and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ Si-Gun Affiliated Project (SW) to respond to local extinction through fostering small and medium enterprises in population-declining areas and creating jobs.

[Photo by Gokseong-gun]

Gokseong-gun plans to develop agricultural food products reflecting trends favored by the MZ generation using local agricultural specialties such as taro, a representative specialty of Gokseong, and to develop the K-Gokseong brand. It also aims to respond to local extinction by fostering local agricultural food companies (corporations) and linking fund projects to nurture startups and create local jobs.

With this selection in the public contest project, Gokseong-gun will receive preferential evaluation such as additional points in the ‘2025 Local Extinction Response Fund Investment Plan Evaluation’ and will receive investment plan planning consulting support until June to ensure that the innovation task can be finally selected by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Additionally, through the 2025 fund investment plan evaluation, it will receive 1.2 billion KRW over two years (?25~?26) from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups for the Si-Gun Affiliated Industry Promotion Project.

Mayor Lee Sang-cheol said, “With this selection in the public contest, we expect that support from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will serve as a catalyst for our local agricultural food industry to grow to the next level,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to overcome the local extinction crisis by discovering quality jobs so that young people can work and settle in the region.”

Gokseong = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Cha Jong-seon hss79@asiae.co.kr

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