Gyeonggi Province Market and Commercial District Promotion Agency Visits Major Markets Across the Country to Listen to On-Site Voices

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun] The Gyeonggi Province Market and Commercial District Promotion Agency, a public institution first established under the 7th civilian-elected Gyeonggi Province administration to revitalize small business owners and traditional markets, has decided to visit major traditional markets by dividing the country into six regional areas to strengthen the competencies of its executives and staff. The six regional areas are Gyeonggi Province, Chungcheong Province, Jeolla Province, Gyeongsang Province, Gangwon Province, and the Capital Region (Seoul, Incheon).

The first destination was the Jeolla Province region, where 46 executives and staff visited Jeonju Nambu Market, which has succeeded in regional revitalization centered on the hanok village, Gwangju Yangdong Restored Market and Chungjang-ro shopping district, selected for the 2019 Small Venture Business Department's 'Commercial District Revitalization Project,' and 'Gunsan Younghwa-dong Alley Commercial District,' a region with activated local currency use, in sequence.
On the 4th, when staff members visited Gwangju Yangdong Restored Market, they held a discussion session with the Gwangju Merchants Association on alley economy revitalization, and subsequently held a discussion session with Lee Chung-hwan, Chairman of the Gyeonggi Province Merchants Association, who accompanied them, on the theme of 'Development Direction of Traditional Markets and Alley Commercial Districts.'
The discussion session was conducted as part of all-staff job training to enhance understanding of their duties and foster a sense of mission through the candid voices of self-employed businesspeople and small business owners for whom traditional markets and alley commercial districts are their livelihoods.
This was promoted in accordance with Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's assertion at the time of the agency's opening of the 'necessity of strengthening employee education for capacity improvement, including fostering merchant organizations.'

Attending the discussion session were Director Lim and all staff of the Gyeonggi Province Market and Commercial District Promotion Agency, Chairman Lee Chung-hwan of the Gyeonggi Province Merchants Association, Chairman Son Jung-ho of the Gwangju Merchants Association, Chairman Mun Sang-sik of the Yangdong Market Merchants Association, Chairman Son Seung-gi of the Namgwangju Market Merchants Association, Chairman Yeo Geun-su of the Chungjang-ro Shopping District Merchants Association, Park Byung-gi of Yangdong Industrial Supplies Exhibition Hall, Chairman Lee Myung-keun of Yangdong Dried Seafood Market Merchants Association, and Chairman Lee Myo-sin of Hawjeong-dong Seobu Market Merchants Association.
Director Lim, while presiding over the discussion session on this day, said, "The candid voices we can directly hear from self-employed businesspeople and small business owners in Gyeonggi Province and throughout the country will greatly help our staff's job competency improvement and the implementation of various support policy projects."
Chairman Son Jung-ho said, "You must visit the markets and directly listen to the difficulties of merchants," and added, "I hope that the Gyeonggi Province Market and Commercial District Promotion Agency will become a good model example, and that dedicated agencies for local commercial district revitalization will be established in Gwangju and various regions throughout the country."

Starting with this visit and discussion session, the Gyeonggi Province Market and Commercial District Promotion Agency plans to implement 'on-site voice' listening education and 'legal and public institution essential education' by six regional areas across the country, as well as the CoP (Community Of Practice: practical community learning circle) system, which has recently been adopted by companies, to all traditional markets in Gyeonggi Province.