Greetings, everyone, and thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV. I’m Don Valiant and this is the news from Gyeonggi Province this week. Gyeonggi Recruits Middle-Aged Job Creation Participants (1201) Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Employment Foundation are currently recruiting participants for an employment program focusing on middle-aged individuals. Known as the Gyeonggi Job Continuation Program, this initiative is aimed at providing stable jobs to unemployed middle-aged individuals in the province while helping SMEs resolve manpower shortages. Program participants receive vocational education as well as ongoing employment services. ◇ Gyeonggi’s 2nd Industrial Complex Pairing for Balanced Regional Development (1202) On November 20, Gyeonggi Province, the Gyeonggi Urban Innovation Corporation, the Economic Promotion Headquarters, and the cities of Ansan and Pocheon signed a cooperation agreement for the establishment of the 2nd industrial complex pairing for balanced regional development. Utilizing the development profits of an industrial complex in an area of high development demand to finance another complex in a relatively less developed area, this paired industrial complex development program, the first of its kind in Korea, was introduced by Gyeonggi Province in 2019. Following the launch of the 1st development pairing by the cities of Pyeongtaek and Paju, the 2nd pairing includes Ansan City as a profit-generating development site and Pocheon City as its counterpart. ◇ ‘Thermometer of Love’ Tower Unveiled in Gyeonggi (1203) On December 1, Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Community Chest jointly launched the ‘2022 Hope Sharing Campaign’ and unveiled the ‘Thermometer of Love’ Tower. Running for 62 days until the end of January next year, this campaign seeks to raise KRW 27.6 billion for charity. Displaying fund-raising results in a real-time thermometer format, ‘Thermometer of Love’ Towers will be installed at seven locations in the province this year including one in front of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Complex in Suwon City. ◇   ‘Stepping Stone of Hope’ Gyeonggi Centers Open in Hwaseong and Goyang (1130) ‘Stepping Stone of Hope’ Gyeonggi Centers, residential independence facilities for juvenile protection facility graduates, opened in the cities of Hwaseong and Goyang. Sponsored jointly by Gyeonggi Province, Samsung Electronics and the Community Chest of Korea, these centers provide residential space as well as independence training and counseling services. The province plans to offer these services through customized 1-on-1 support programs for employment, daily life and financial management, as well as experiential independence programs, and medical and educational programs. ◇ Gyeonggi Launches Comprehensive Winter Weather Countermeasures (1129) Gyeonggi Province announced plans to establish and implement comprehensive countermeasures against heavy snowfalls and cold waves during the winter. The province will establish and operate a 24-hour situation room and response system to immediately address related emergency situations until March 15 next year. In addition, the province has also installed on-site measures including automatic snow removal equipment and warming facilities such as heated bus stop benches. ◇ Gyeonggi and Local Governments to Collaborate in Fighting Winter Fine Dust (1129) On November 26, Gyeonggi Province convened a meeting with the heads of the 31 cities and counties of the province to review the current implementation status of the seasonal fine dust management system, which consists of 16 selected measures in 6 categories. Seasonal operation restrictions on class-5 vehicles, in particular, will be applied throughout the entire capital region from December through to March next year by Gyeonggi, Seoul and Incheon. During the meeting, the province and local governments agreed to jointly collaborate from December so as to successfully implement the seasonal fine dust management system. ◇   ‘2021 NRP Demo Day’ Held in Gyeonggi (1126) The 2021 NRP Demo Day, a virtual and augmented reality research presentation event, was held in Gyeonggi Province both online and offline on November 24 and 25. Introduced by the province in 2017, NRP – or New Reality Partners – is an augmented reality enterprise-fostering program from which a total of 148 selected enterprises have been benefited to date. This event saw presentations by beneficiary enterprises in the metaverse and augmented reality sectors, offering a glimpse into the future of these industries. ◇ Thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV. We look forward to seeing you again next week.