Changwon Chamber of Commerce Urges Five Non-Capital Regions for "Prioritize Regional Development, Then Ease Capital Area Regulations"

Criticism of Relaxation of Capital Region Regulations Including Factory Total Quantity System as a Setback to National Balanced Development

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Choi Hyun-joo] The Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with chambers of commerce from five non-metropolitan areas including Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, and Ulsan, issued a joint statement on the 6th opposing the easing of regulations on the Seoul metropolitan area, which goes against national balanced development.

This joint statement was made as the government recently showed a clear intention to ease regulations on the Seoul metropolitan area by relaxing the total factory volume system in the metropolitan area to attract reshoring companies and including the metropolitan area in the special support regions for small and medium enterprises, which had previously applied only to local areas. The chairpersons of the non-metropolitan chambers of commerce united in concern over policies that run counter to national balanced development.

The five chambers, including Changwon, questioned why the situation in the Seoul metropolitan area, where most national resources are concentrated, should be prioritized over non-metropolitan areas, which are facing a serious crisis due to sluggish key industries and population outflow.

They also pointed out that while the expected relocation of secondary public institutions to local areas to reduce the gap between the metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions is progressing slowly, the easing of regulations on the metropolitan area is being implemented without a proper public discussion process, thereby increasing the relative deprivation felt by local residents.

Based on this, the five chambers including Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry unanimously emphasized the urgent need for strong incentives such as tax and financial cost reductions and expanded support for research and development investment to first restore the collapsed local economy, supply quality youth jobs to non-metropolitan areas through the relocation of secondary public institutions, and enable returning companies to settle in non-metropolitan areas first in the long term.

The chairpersons of the five regional chambers including Changwon stated, “Although a strong regional nation and a balanced Republic of Korea are among the current government's national management policies, concentration in the metropolitan area is intensifying day by day,” and added, “For the future of the national economy, we hope that multi-core growth support policies will be implemented to achieve development tailored to the characteristics of each region.”

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