Heo Seok, Mayor of Suncheon, Builds Consensus for National Budget Requests with Central Government Ministries

Forest Service, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Visit to Propose Support for 14 Key Projects Worth 530 Billion Won

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Heo Seok, mayor of Suncheon, announced on the 4th that he visited the Korea Forest Service, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, etc. the day before to directly explain 14 new core projects worth 530 billion KRW and requested national funding support.

The major core projects proposed this time include ▲ Construction of Jeonnam Digital Animation Center (30 billion KRW) ▲ Designation as the 3rd statutory cultural city (20 billion KRW) ▲ Support for demonstration of e-mobility shared integrated transportation service (18 billion KRW) ▲ Village sewage pipeline maintenance project (30 billion KRW) ▲ K-Miracle Healing Center construction project (10 billion KRW) ▲ Creation of Korean Peninsula Carbon Neutral Garden (20 billion KRW) ▲ Suncheon Bonghwasan Forest Play Zone construction project (10 billion KRW) ▲ Support for hosting the 2023 Suncheonman International Garden Expo (46.7 billion KRW), etc.

Mayor Heo directly visited the relevant department directors on the day to highlight the necessity and distinctiveness of the projects and skillfully extracted the key points desired by the departments to persuade them in a customized manner, thereby gaining consensus.

The city began preparations for next year’s national funding discovery from the second half of last year and, through more than five departmental review meetings, discovered a total of 150 national projects worth 1.4 trillion KRW, including Suncheon-type large-scale projects for smooth promotion of the 2023 Suncheon International Garden Expo-related projects, economy, livelihood, and future administration.

Also, on February 24, led by Vice Mayor Lim Chae-young, they visited eight offices of the Jeonnam Provincial Government to explain and request support for next year’s national funding projects, and last month, department and office heads visited relevant ministries to make requests, actively working in all project departments to secure national funding.

Meanwhile, despite the COVID-19 crisis last year, the city secured 555.3 billion KRW in national funding, an increase of 55 billion KRW compared to the previous year, through various activities to overcome poor local financial conditions and is investing it in the citizen economy.

Mayor Heo said, “Since the central government ministries have a good image of our Suncheon, we will frequently visit Jeonnam Province, central government ministries, and the National Assembly to build consensus on projects. From new employees to department and office heads, everyone will work with passion and determination to ensure that next year’s national funding projects are reflected in the government budget, and we will make every effort to secure national funding until the end.”

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