Wando-gun Wins Manifesto Best Practice Contest for 5 Consecutive Years

Shin Woo-cheol, Wando County Governor (Photo by Wando County)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Kyung-pil] Wando County, Jeollanam-do (Governor Shin Woo-cheol) announced on the 14th that it received the Excellence Award in the job creation and employment improvement category at the final presentation of the "11th National Basic Local Government Manifesto Best Practice Competition" hosted by the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters.

This year's competition received 353 cases from 144 basic local governments nationwide. After the first document screening, 172 selected cases competed in the main competition.

Wando County has been honored with awards for five consecutive years, starting with the "Pledge Implementation Category" in 2015, followed by the "Job Creation Category" in 2016, the "Urban Regeneration Category" in 2017, and the "Nation's First Marine Environment Management Team Operation" in 2018.

This year, the county achieved success with the case of "Expansion of Foreign Seasonal Workers Allowed in the Fisheries Sector, Nationwide First Pilot Operation in 2020," which found solutions through regulatory innovation.

The "Foreign Seasonal Worker Program" is a system that allows the legal employment of foreigners for a short period to address labor shortages during farming and fishing seasons. However, the permitted fields were limited to land-based work such as seaweed and shellfish processing and production, and anchovy drying.

In response, the county listened to the difficulties of fishermen who stated that foreign seasonal workers capable of working both on land and at sea were needed to solve labor shortages in aging fishing villages through the "Visiting Regulatory Reporting Center." Since 2017, they have continuously requested the expansion of permitted industries in the fisheries sector to Jeollanam-do, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Justice.

As a result, this year, the permitted industries in the fisheries sector for the foreign seasonal worker program were expanded, and Wando County alone achieved the milestone of pilot operation.

These efforts by the county were selected as an "Excellent Case of Active Regulatory Innovation Administration" by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and as one of the "Top 10 Regulatory Innovation Cases in the Public Life Sector" improved through the Regulatory Reform Newspaper.

Wando County has faithfully fulfilled its promises to residents, winning awards for five consecutive years in pledge implementation evaluations and best practice presentations hosted by the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters. It also received the highest grade (SA) in the 2020 7th Local Government Heads Pledge Implementation and Information Disclosure Evaluation.

Governor Shin Woo-cheol said, "Pledges are precious promises to residents, and we will carefully inspect and promote core projects to realize a happy future for Wando, doing our best to ensure that all pledge items are implemented without any setbacks."

Meanwhile, the Manifesto Best Practice Competition is held annually in years without local elections to share solutions to regional problems and future alternatives through excellent cases of pledges and policies by mayors, county governors, and district heads.

The evaluation was conducted by combining 70 points from the first written screening and 30 points from the second online video presentation held in an untact manner due to COVID-19, selecting and announcing the grand prize and excellence awards by city, county, and district in each category.

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