On September 4, the Gunpo City Council held a meeting to address the challenges faced by local small businesses and discuss improvements to support programs and local currency operations.
According to the council, they met with executives from the Gunpo Small Business Association to discuss the budget for small business support programs for 2027, operational support for the secretariat, and enhancements to local commercial district support initiatives.
The association requested the council's cooperation in the budget preparation and execution process to ensure that next year's support programs proceed without delays.
They also suggested improving the system and funding methods to allow for the hiring of full-time staff for stable secretariat operations.
The Gunpo City Economic Department plans to review the feasibility of these suggestions and develop improvement measures.
This year, an additional budget proposal reflecting the extra needs for small business support programs has been submitted, and there are plans to expand the budget for related projects in 2027.
The operational methods for the local commercial district support program were also discussed.
Instead of assigning managers to each commercial area, a proposal was made to manage operations regionally based on the size and workload of the districts, with the Small Business Association overseeing the overall management.
Improvements to the incentive operation for the local currency, Gunpo Love Money, were also on the agenda.
To reduce congestion during incentive distribution days and early budget depletion, adjustments to the timing of payments and recharge limits were considered to allow more citizens to benefit from the same budget.
One citizen expressed, "I hope that support for small businesses goes beyond being a one-time initiative and actually contributes to sales and management stability."
Another citizen noted, "If local commercial districts thrive, it would allow residents to shop locally, positively impacting the local economy."
Meanwhile, Lee Woo-cheon, the council chairman, stated, "We will closely examine the necessity and effectiveness of small business support programs during the budget review process and will work with the administration to ensure that the voices from the field lead to practical policy improvements."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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