Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Five National Economic Groups Unite in Opposition to Easing Capital Region Regulations

Relaxation of Capital Region Regulations Including Factory Total Volume System Ignores the Greater Cause of National Balanced Development
Wisdom Needed to Overcome National Crisis by Normalizing the Economy of Non-Capital Regions in Crisis
Urgent Ne

Five economic organizations outside the Seoul metropolitan area, including the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, issued a joint statement opposing the government's plan to ease regulations in the metropolitan area.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] On the 6th, the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representing the economies of five non-metropolitan regions, jointly announced a statement opposing the relaxation of regulations in the Seoul metropolitan area, which goes against national balanced development, together with the Daegu, Gwangju, Ulsan, and Changwon Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

This joint statement was made by the chairpersons of non-metropolitan chambers of commerce who shared concerns that the government's recent moves?such as easing the total factory volume system in the Seoul metropolitan area to attract reshoring companies and including the Seoul metropolitan area in the special support regions for small and medium enterprises, which had previously applied only to local areas?would undermine the cause of national balanced development.

In the statement, strong concerns were expressed regarding the government's choice to relax Seoul metropolitan area regulations, prioritizing the urgent difficulties of the local economy over revitalizing our economy, which is struggling due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Furthermore, the statement raised issues about why the Seoul metropolitan area, which accounts for only 11.8% of the national land area but concentrates more than half of the population and most of the national resources, should be prioritized over non-metropolitan areas, which are facing a serious crisis due to sluggish main industries and population outflow.

In particular, it pointed out that while the relocation of secondary public institutions to local areas?expected to help bridge the gap between the Seoul metropolitan area and non-metropolitan regions?is progressing slowly, the relaxation of Seoul metropolitan area regulations is being implemented without a proper public discussion process, thereby expanding the relative deprivation felt by local residents.

The chairpersons of the five regional chambers, including Busan, unanimously emphasized that overcoming the current economic crisis triggered by COVID-19 must start with prioritizing the recovery of the collapsed local economy within the broader framework of national balanced development and resolving the gap between the Seoul metropolitan area and non-metropolitan regions.

As a solution for normalizing the local economy, they argued that it is urgent to provide high-quality youth jobs in non-metropolitan areas through the relocation of secondary public institutions and, in the long term, to offer strong incentives such as tax and financial cost reductions and expanded support for research and development investment to encourage returning companies to settle preferentially in non-metropolitan areas.

Huh Yong-do, chairman of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated, “In a situation where waves of change are intensifying worldwide due to the COVID-19 crisis, growth centered on the Seoul metropolitan area and large corporations, which maximizes the inefficiency of national resources, can no longer be an option for our economy.” He added, “We hope the government firmly establishes a policy direction of prioritizing local development first and then relaxing Seoul metropolitan area regulations for the future of the national economy, and supports multi-nuclear growth policies so that development tailored to the characteristics of each region can be achieved.”

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