A market in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, is closed on Feb. 23, 2020, to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. (Yonhap)
GOYANG, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — With the massive spread of the new coronavirus expected to alter life as we know it for the foreseeable future, local governments in Gyeonggi Province are pushing for various measures to support and promote consumption.
The city of Goyang will temporarily hire local students and children of small business owners who lost part-time jobs due to the COVID-19 crisis and will offer them public jobs for two months.
As of March 20, 258 people had applied for jobs under this initiative, which will recruit 100 people for the time being. The city plans to eventually hire up to 500 people in total.
Meanwhile, the local government in the city of Paju has volunteered to use social media to personally visit and promote restaurants and other local businesses in the region.
Municipal officials are visiting restaurants and tourist attractions, writing reviews and taking the lead in revitalizing the local economy.
“I was touched beyond words when I saw public officials had visited and wrote posts about our restaurant,” a restaurant owner said.
Furthermore, the city of Yangju has come up with a plan to reduce property taxes by up to 100 percent to tenants in accordance with the rate of rent reduction, with the measure set to pass the council’s approval.
If the exemption plan is passed by the city council, the property tax on buildings and properties that will be levied in July will be the first to be affected.
The city of Pocheon also joined the effort. In order to support local restaurants and traditional markets, the city decided to close down cafeterias at local government offices.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
