Oh Se-hoon's First Budget Proposal '44 Trillion', Largest Ever... Support for Small Businesses, Youth, and Single-Person Households

Budget of 44.0748 Trillion Won, 9.8% Increase from Last Year... Actively Invested in 3 Major Investment Priorities and 15 Core Tasks
Supporting Local Businesses and Comprehensive Youth Support Including Jobs and Housing... 7.4 Billion Won Allocated for Pilot Project on Guaranteed Income
Free Meals for Kindergartens Begin, Expansion of Long-Term Jeonse Housing, Customized Support for Single-Person Households
Fostering New Industries like Fintech, Revitalizing Beauty Tourism, Expanding Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is delivering a congratulatory speech at the '2021 Asia Women Leaders Forum' hosted by Asia Economy, held at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 27th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government has prepared next year's budget at a record high of 44 trillion won to support small business owners and vulnerable groups struggling due to COVID-19, while also investing in building a social safety net such as free meals in kindergartens and housing supply for low-income citizens. Additionally, the budget allocates funds for strengthening urban competitiveness through initiatives like establishing the 'Seoul Investment Agency,' fostering new industries such as fintech, revitalizing beauty tourism, and expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

On the 1st, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the '2022 Seoul City Budget Plan' totaling 44.0748 trillion won based on these points and submitted it to the Seoul Metropolitan Council. The size of next year's budget exceeds 40 trillion won for the first time, increasing by 9.8% (3.9186 trillion won) compared to this year's budget. Mayor Oh plans to actively invest in the '3 Major Investment Focus Areas and 15 Core Tasks' presented in 'Seoul Vision 2030.'

Mayor Oh explained, "The revenue budget is estimated at 23.0956 trillion won, an increase of 3.0719 trillion won from this year, based on this year's acquisition tax collection and gradual economic recovery prospects," adding, "Through proactive and aggressive fiscal investment, we will restore livelihoods shattered by COVID-19 and strengthen future investments for Seoul's leap and growth."

In particular, before preparing this budget, Seoul conducted expenditure restructuring to save 1.1519 trillion won. The city plans to invest the saved budget in tangible projects such as improving the quality of care services, enhancing citizen convenience facilities like Hangang Park, and supporting vulnerable groups including youth and children aging out of care.

The record-breaking Seoul city budget for next year will be invested in three major focus areas: ▲Recovery of livelihoods and daily life ▲Strengthening the social safety net ▲Leap and growth. First, to revive livelihoods damaged by COVID-19 and accelerate the recovery of daily life, 2.2398 trillion won has been allocated to five core tasks. Seoul has allocated 356.3 billion won for tailored recovery support for small business owners and vulnerable groups, and 7.4 billion won for the pilot project of 'Safe Income,' Mayor Oh's experiment to reduce income disparity. Furthermore, 993.4 billion won will be invested to comprehensively support youth employment, asset formation, and mental health, while 477.2 billion won is allocated for customized job creation by target groups to expedite employment recovery.

Moreover, 3.4355 trillion won will be invested to build a dense social safety net that protects the lives of Seoul citizens. Seoul has prepared a budget of 1.6711 trillion won to implement tailored safety welfare aligned with the start of free meals in kindergartens, increased meal expenses in daycare centers, and support for single-person households. The support budget for single-person households has been increased more than sevenfold to 107 billion won compared to 14.1 billion won this year. Additionally, 617.7 billion won has been allocated to supply quality housing for low-income citizens, and 853 billion won to promote citizen safety through disaster and accident prevention, including enhancing disaster response capabilities against climate change.

A budget to strengthen global urban competitiveness has also been prepared and allocated. To make Seoul an attractive city where people, companies, and investments gather, 2.2109 trillion won will be invested in fostering future new industries and transitioning to digital and carbon neutrality. In particular, 6.6 billion won is allocated for establishing the Seoul Investment Agency, and budgets are assigned for operating the Seoul Fintech Lab, creating and operating the Hongneung Bio-Medical Anchor, and running the Seoul Startup Hub. Furthermore, 181.3 billion won will be invested to enhance cultural and tourism global competitiveness, and 468.1 billion won to strengthen urban competitiveness through expanding metropolitan railway networks connecting the Seoul metropolitan area, such as GTX-A.

Active budgeting has also been made to build a future-oriented smart transportation system and to further supply eco-friendly electric and hydrogen vehicles. Seoul plans to establish an autonomous vehicle base in Gangnam and other areas (16.7 billion won) and has started a research project (300 million won) for introducing Urban Air Mobility (UAM) such as drone taxis to open aerial routes. Additionally, 12,327 eco-friendly electric and hydrogen vehicles will be newly supplied, and more than 10,000 electric vehicle chargers will be expanded.

Mayor Oh said, "Through next year's budget, we will invest more in areas that need support, improve safety levels, and proactively respond to the climate change crisis," adding, "We will do our best to ensure that next year's budget serves as a catalyst to restore livelihoods broken by COVID-19 and lead Seoul's future growth and leap."

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