Hit hard by coronavirus

Customized support is needed to help marginal firms stay afloat

Calls are mounting among small firms and the self-employed for policymakers to come up with customized support to minimize damage from the outbreak of the new coronavirus. Many of those business owners say more than just damage relief is needed to help them maintain minimal levels of operation and production.

According to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Monday, 38.1 percent of 357 corporate requests for help it received were about falling sales, followed by 29.7 percent about difficulties securing parts and materials, 14.6 percent about export difficulties, and 5.3 percent about epidemic-preventing goods.

The drop in sales is the most urgent issue as it directly leads to difficulties in covering operating expenses. The government has offered emergency funding plans, but companies are complaining about the long waits and rigid criteria to receive the relief funds. They stress the need for a fast-track support system. No less acute is the shortage of disinfection supplies at industrial sites. As the government has implemented a rationing system of face masks for the public, it ought to set aside a quota for factories or introduce a state-subsidized distribution system.

Confusion is still rampant at production sites, on matters ranging from the correct method to wear a mask to how much business space should be quarantined and for how long. Clearer quarantine guidelines that accurately reflect the pathological characteristics of COVID-19 are necessary. Exporters have called for proper support so that they can conduct required business travel. They want the government to secure emergency diplomatic channels for businesspeople who have to go abroad to win orders or manage production at overseas plants.

Equally urgent is supplementing childcare services for working couples. The government has proposed that schools extend the operation of their daycare programs while encouraging companies to allow for childcare vacations. A more practical idea is to let one of the parents work from home or take childcare leave, and the government should incentivize firms to go in this direction. Now is the time for policymakers to speed up the provision of customized support for businesses and prepare for a prolonged coronavirus outbreak.