[3rd Supplementary Budget] 77.8 Billion Won Allocated to Support COVID-19 Affected Fisheries Industry and Eco-friendly Ship Conversion

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister Moon Sung-hyeok) announced on the 3rd that it has allocated 77.8 billion KRW in the 3rd supplementary budget for 2020 to support the fisheries industry affected by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), promote the Korean New Deal, and revitalize the local economy.

To support the fisheries sector affected by the damage, 21 billion KRW will be used to issue seafood discount coupons to promote seafood consumption. To enhance the consumption promotion effect, the seafood discount coupons will be usable in various places such as online, large supermarkets, and traditional markets.

Additionally, 5.1 billion KRW will be allocated to support the entry of major export countries such as China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan into non-face-to-face markets to revitalize seafood exports. The plan is to support costs incurred by seafood export companies to enter overseas major home shopping and online markets or conduct promotional campaigns.

As part of the Korean New Deal project, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will expand investment to establish a non-face-to-face and smart system in the marine and fisheries sector and promote an eco-friendly ship project. A marine spatial database (DB) will be established to create a system for joint use of marine and fisheries information (2.1 billion KRW), and a budget of 1.3 billion KRW has been allocated to convert the existing face-to-face ship drawing approval process into a non-face-to-face inspection application and approval system through electronic drawings.

This supplementary budget also includes 3.1 billion KRW for the early order of six aging public vessels scheduled for ordering in 2021 as eco-friendly ships. The Ministry expects that the proactive introduction of eco-friendly ships in the public sector will serve as a catalyst to revitalize the domestic eco-friendly ship market, improve the marine environment by reducing port fine dust, ensure safety by replacing aging public vessels, and help resolve order shortages in local small and medium shipbuilding industries.

About 40 billion KRW has also been allocated for the 'Port SOC' supplementary budget to support early construction of port safety social overhead capital (SOC) and local economic revitalization. Plans include ▲construction of the southern breakwater of Ulsan New Port (24 billion KRW) ▲maintenance of drainage channels at Gwangyang Port to prevent flooding (2 billion KRW) ▲construction costs for early recovery from typhoon damage at Busan Gamcheon Port (7.7 billion KRW) ▲reinforcement costs for the Oryukdo breakwater at Busan Port (4.5 billion KRW).

In addition, 6 billion KRW has been additionally allocated to the deep-sea fishing vessel safety fund to secure safety for deep-sea fishing vessels, and two aging deep-sea fishing vessels will be additionally replaced and constructed.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to thoroughly prepare projects so that support can be promptly provided to the marine and fisheries industry suffering from COVID-19 along with the existing COVID-19 response support measures as soon as the supplementary budget is confirmed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.