On the first, Suncheon City, Jeollanam-do held the ‘2024 Suncheon City Regional Economic Mutual Growth Council’ in the town hall conference room and presented specific alternatives for revitalizing the regional economy. This council was attended by about 20 organizations and group leaders, including the Suncheon Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Complex Council, Suncheon Agricultural Cooperative, Suncheon Gwangyang Livestock Cooperative, and NH Nonghyup Bank.
Taking a look at the primary discussion items and proposals of the council, ▲’Public purchase of products from social economy enterprises’ was suggested as ‘various measures to advertise local consumption’. This is anticipated to advertise local economic circulation by having public institutions preferentially purchase products from social economy enterprises within the region.
▲’Use of local rice in restaurants inside the city limits’ was also suggested. This can be a measure to support farmers and promote consumption of local agricultural products by encouraging all public institutions, schools, and welfare facilities inside Suncheon City to make use of rice produced locally.
Here, ▲’Priority Use of Local Resources for Government-Supplied Materials’ was advisable. This can be a measure to extend sales of local corporations and create jobs by preferentially purchasing materials needed for public projects from local corporations.
As a policy of ‘financial support and protection of small business owners’, ▲’purchase of Suncheon Love Gift Certificates’ was promised. With this, participating organizations and groups have promised to buy a complete of 600 million won value of Suncheon Love Gift Certificates, contributing to the promotion of consumption within the region.
It doesn’t end here, ▲ in cooperation with the Jeonnam Credit Guarantee Foundation, we decided to supply low-interest loan products to small business owners and expand the loan limit to support small business owners experiencing financial difficulties through the ‘Small Business Loan Support Plan’.
Along with the support policies presented by the town, local businessmen requested ▲’regional tourism activation’ as a ‘tourism and culture activation’ measure. They said they’d strengthen marketing for major tourist destinations reminiscent of Suncheon Bay National Garden and Suncheon Bay Wetland to draw outside tourists. To this end, they suggested the necessity to promote SNS, hold discount events, and develop various experience programs to extend the length of time tourists stay.
As well as, ▲ opinions were expressed that the ‘cultural event plan’ could enrich the cultural lifetime of local residents by activating local festivals and cultural events, and contribute to revitalizing the local economy by attracting outside visitors.
As a measure to ‘create jobs and support education,’ a proposal was also made to ▲ operate a youth job creation program in cooperation with local businesses to ‘create youth jobs,’ and to supply mentoring and financial support to support youth entrepreneurship.
▲ In an effort to support this, opinions were actively expressed to expand vocational teaching programs linked to local industries through ‘vocational education and training’ to supply residents with skills improvement and employment opportunities. Particularly, the aim is to strengthen technical education related to the 4th Industrial Revolution to organize for future industries.
Based on the matters discussed at this mutual growth council, Suncheon City plans to ascertain a cooperative system between public institutions and personal corporations and strengthen continuous opinion gathering and cooperation through regular meetings and councils.
To this end, it’s vital to repeatedly monitor the implementation status of the proposed measures, evaluate the performance, and take immediate supplementary measures when vital. Moreover, it seems vital to actively promote the aim and content of the policy to local residents and businesses to encourage participation and elicit cooperation from your entire area people.
Mayor Roh Gwan-gyu of Suncheon City emphasized, “Within the midst of the present very difficult economic situation, it’s more vital than ever to give you practical and specific measures to revitalize the local economy,” and added, “All members of the region will pool their wisdom to beat this difficulty and achieve sustainable economic development through innovation.”
Reporter Yang Jun-seok kailas21@aitimes.com
